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Three 
Historical Addresses 



at 



Groton, Massachusetts 



BY 

SAMUEL ABBOTT GREEN 



OTtl) an append 



GROTON: 
1908. 



TO 

THE MEMORY 

OF 

GEORGE SEWALL BOUTWELL 

January 28, 1818 — February 27, 1905 

who always took an active part in whatever 
concerned the welfare of 

THE TOWN 



PREFACE 

' I ^HESE several addresses were delivered on differ- 
■*• ent occasions by request of the town, and were 
published originally in pamphlet form. As they have 
long been out of print, they are now brought together 
and republished in a volume for the greater conven- 
ience of those who take an interest in the town. The 
titlepages have been somewhat shortened, but the 
several inscriptions or dedications have been allowed 
to remain. The Address of July Fourth, 1876, was 
given in the First Parish Meeting-house ; and the 
other two Addresses were made in the Town Hall. 

The Archives, often quoted as authority for state- 
ments in the text, are the Massachusetts Archives 
found at the State House. 

March 16, 1908 



CONTENTS 

Pages 
An Historical Address, Bi-centennial and Centennial, 

July 4, 1876 11-63 

An Historical Address at the Dedication of Three 
Monuments erected by the Town, February 20, 
1 880 65-1 13 

An Historical Address on the Two Hundred and 
Fiftieth Anniversary of the Settlement of the Town, 
July 12, 1905 ii5-!59 

Appendix : The Name of Groton, by Dr. Edward Mussey 
Hartwell ; List of Indian Words; List of Towns; 
Distinguished Citizens; Fmglish Oaks; Town Seal; 
First Parish Meeting- House 161-172 

Index 1 73-181 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Pages 

Petition for the Plantation, 1655 16, 17 

Stainj) and Counter-stamp issued under the Act of 1765 52 

" Useful Instructions," etc., Cambridge, 1673, by Samuel 

Willard (Titlepage and Preface) 82, S3 

Town Seal 171 

First Parish Meeting-House 172 



AN 

HISTORICAL ADDRESS 

bi-centennial and centennial 
July 4, 1876 



Groton Burned by the Indians, 1676. 
Declaration of Independence, 1776. 



TO 

£ije STntjabttants; of <Sroton 

AND TO 
THE NATIVES OF THE TOWN LIVING ELSEWHERE 

THIS ADDRESS 

A WILLING TASK, IMPERFECTLY DONE, IS RESPECTFULLY 
INSCRIBED BY THE WRITER. 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS 

The first century of our national existence is completed 
this day, and we meet to commemorate the event. One 
hundred years have passed away since the Declaration of 
Independence was affirmed and a nation was born that is 
destined to flourish as long as piety, religion, and morality 
shall prevail in the land, and no longer. Modern times 
have been full of great deeds ; but none of them is greater 
than that which declared the American colonies to be free, 
and put them in the rank of independent nations. The 
rapid development of the United States during this hun- 
dred years has been watched by thoughtful men throughout 
the world, — by some with jealousy, by others with sym- 
pathy; and their success has made them an example 
for other countries to follow. They have stood the test 
of a century; and to-day, throughout the land, the great 
birthday of the nation is commemorated with joy and ex- 
ultation never before equalled. 

The question may recur, Why is this notice taken of a 
century? Why is a celebration more fitting now than next 
year or last year? It is because there is a tendency in the 
human mind to divide time into round periods. At the 
end of a century comes a stopping-place, — a broad stair 
in the flight of time, — from which to look back upon any 
event that marked its beginning. In our decimal notation 
the number Ten plays an important part, and is a kind of 
unit. Originally connected in meaning with the fingers of 
the hand, a hundred, in its primitive signification as well 
as numerically ten tens, is a large unit, — a natural divi- 
sion of duration. If man had been endowed originally by 
Nature with six fingers on each hand, we should now have 
a duodecimal system of numbers instead of a decimal sys- 
tem; and it would seem just as easy and natural. This 



12 



tendency in the human mind is strikingly illustrated by the 
last census returns of the city of Boston. The number of 
its inhabitants who gave their ages as just forty-five is 
nmre than twice as large as the number of those who were 
just forty-four or just forty-six. The number of those 
who were just fifty is more than three times as great as 
the number of those who were just forty-nine, and about 
five times as many as the number of those who were just 
fifty-one. According to these returns, there are nearly 
twice as many persons who are fifty-five as either fifty-four 
or fifty-six; and there are four times as many who are 
sixty as either fifty-nine or sixty-one. The tens have a 
stronger attraction than the fives, and these, in their turn, 
than the other numbers. This example, beside showing 
the untrustworthy character, in some respects, of the census 
returns, — a point not now to my purpose, — shows how 
widely pervading is the feeling about round periods; and 
in this universal feeling is found the answer to the ques- 
tion why we have a celebration at this time. 

The present year has also a bi-centennial anniversary 
that brings us together. It was in the year 1676 that this 
town was destroyed by the Indians, and the inhabitants, 
with all their available effects, were forced to leave it. A 
contemporary account of the removal says that there were 
sixty carts required for the work, and that they extended 
along the road for more than two miles. It was a sorry 
sight to see this little community leaving their homes, which 
they had first established twenty-one years before. What 
bitter pangs they must have felt, and how dark their future 
must have seemed, as they turned to look for the last time 
upon familiar places, — their rude but cherished homes, their 
humble meeting-house, in ashes, and the graves of their 
kindred whom they had laid away tenderly in God's acre. 
As they made their way along the rough and muddy roads, 
the hearts of all were heavy with grief; and the mothers' 
eyes were dimmed with tears, as the thought of blighted 
prospects filled their minds, for no one could foresee the 
end of their misfortunes. Their bitter experiences, how- 



13 

ever, affected more than one generation. Fortitude is the 
logical result of hardships : brave parents will breed brave 
children. Our fathers little thought that these trials were 
making them the ancestry of a strong people, who them- 
selves, a century later, were to contend successfully against 
the strongest power in the world. At this late day we 
cannot know all their sufferings, but we do know that they 
were a God-fearing community; and on this occasion it is 
fitting that we should celebrate their virtues. They were a 
plain folk, with homely traits ; and their best memorial is 
the simple story of their lives. For this reason I purpose 
to give an unadorned narration of some of the more im- 
portant events with which they were connected from the 
very beginning of the town, together with a brief account 
of some of the actors, bringing the account down through 
the last century, and touching lightly upon the present one. 

In the spring of the year 1655, the township of Groton 
was granted by the General Court to a number of peti- 
tioners. It was situated on the frontiers, fourteen miles 
from the nearest settlement; and at that time there were 
but nine other towns in Middlesex County. What induce- 
ments were held out to gain settlers for the new town, it 
is impossible now to ascertain. Probably, however, the 
country in this neighborhood had been reconnoitred by 
adventurous men from other settlements ; and it is likely 
that such persons had followed the Indian trails, and pene- 
trated to what then seemed a long distance into the wilder- 
ness. These persons knew the rivers and the hills, and the 
lay of the land generally; and, after coming home, they 
talked about the good farming region. It would take but 
a short time thus to establish traditions that might draw 
a few families to desirable places. It happened then, as it 
sometimes happens now, that large fires had run through 
the woods in dry weather, and had burned until they were 
put out by some rain-storm, leaving a track of black deso- 
lation that would last for many a year. And, moreover, 
there were small patches that had been planted by the In- 
dians with corn, beans, and squashes, and therefore ready 
for cultivation by whosoever should take possession of 



14 

them. In this way a few places had been more or less 
cleared; and the wild grasses had canght-in sufficiently to 
furnish fodder for the cattle. This last consideration was 
a matter of much importance to the settlers. In planting 
towns, it undoubtedly weighed with them in selecting the 
sites. In fact, it is recorded that, during some of those early 
years, feed was so scarce that the cattle had to be slaugh- 
tered to save them from death by hunger. It should be 
borne in mind that grass then was not cultivated as it is 
now ; nor was it for more than a century after this period. 
In the winter cattle had to be kept on corn-stalks and the 
native grasses, which the settlers had gathered wherever 
they could ; and it required rigid economy, even on these, 
to keep them till spring. 

It was amid such and other difficulties that our fathers 
founded their settlements. Prompted by interest or enter- 
prise, families would plant themselves in the wilderness 
and make new homes away from neighbors and far from 
friends. As these settlements increased in numbers, they 
were constituted towns without much formality. The only 
Act of Incorporation of Boston, Dorchester, and Water- 
town was an order of the General Court " that Trimoun- 
taine shalbe called Boston; Mattapan, Dorchester; & the 
towne vpon Charles Ryver, Waterton." 

Towns thus informally established have grown up with 
certain rights and privileges as well as duties and obliga- 
tions, and have developed into fixed municipal corporations, 
as we find them to-day. They did not spring into existence 
full grown and clothed, like Minerva from the head of 
Jupiter, but they have been creatures of slow growth. 
They should be compared rather to the old homestead that 
has been receiving additions and improvements during sev- 
eral generations, in order to accommodate the increasing 
and constantly changing family, until finally the humble 
house has expanded into a roomy structure. 

The prominent idea in the minds of the founders of New 
England appears to have been the support of the gospel min- 
istry. After this came the management of their political 
affairs and the support of free schools. Captain Edward 



15 

Johnson, in his quaint and instructive book, " Wonder- 
Working Providence of Sions Saviour, in New-England," 
says that it was " as unnatural for a right N. E. man to 
live without an able Ministery, as for a Smith to work his 
iron without a fire; therefore this people that went about 
placing down a Town, began the foundation-stone, with 
earnest seeking of the Lord's assistance, by humbling of 
their souls before him in daies of prayer" (p. 177). The 
College, which was established so early in the history of 
the colony, was dedicated " to Christ and the Church " ; 
and down to the present time this motto is kept on the 
College-seal. 

Mr. Butler, in his History, says that " The original peti- 
tion for the plantation or town of Groton, is not found, or 
any record of it" (p. 11). Since this statement was made, 
however, one of the petitions — for it seems there were two 
— has been found among the papers of the late Captain 
Samuel Shepley, by Charles Woolley, formerly of this 
town, but now of Waltham. A copy of it was printed in 
" The New England Historical and Genealogical Register " 
(xiv. 48) for January, i860, and is as follows: — 

To the honored Generall Courte assembled at Boston the humble 
petion of vs whose names ar here under written humbly shoeth 

That where as youre petioners by a prouidence of God haue 
beene brought ouer in to this widernes and lined longe here in : 
and being sumthing straightned for that where by subsistance in 
an ordinarie waie of Gods prouidence is to be had and Con- 
sidering the a lowance that God giues to the sones of men for 
such an ende : youre petioners request therefore is that you 
would be pleased to grant vs a place for a plantation vpon the 
Riuer that runes from Nashaway in to merimake at a place 
or a boute a place Caled petaupauket and waubansconcett and 
youre petioners shall pray for youre happy proseedings 

Willim Martin . Timothy Cooper 
Richard Blood John Lakin 

John Witt John Blood 

Willim Lakin Mathu Farrington 

Richard Hauen Robert Blood 



i6 



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17 



On the third page of the document, the decision of the 
General Court is given, which runs thus : — 













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In Ans r to both theise peticons The Court Judgeth it meete 
to graunt the peticone r s eight miles square in the place desired to 
make a Comfortable plantacoh wch henceforth shall be Called 
Groaten forme r ly knowne by the name of Petapawage : that 
M r Danforth of Cambridge w th such as he shall associate to 
him shall and hereby is desired to lay it out w th all convenient 
speede that so no Incouragement may be wanting to the Peti- 
cone r s for a speedy procuring of a godly minister amongst them. 
Provided that none shall enjoy any part or portoh of that land 
by guift from the selectmen of that place but such who shall 
build howses on theire Lotts so given them once w th in eighteene 
mon th s from the time of the said Tounes laying out or Tounes 
graunt to such persons ; and for the p r esent M r Deane Winthrop 

3 



i8 



M r Jn° Tinker M r Tho: Hinckly Dolor Davis W m Martin 
Mathew Farrington John Witt and Timothy Couper are Ap- 
pointed the selectmen for the sajd Toune of Groaten for one 
two yeares from the time it is lajd out, to lay out and dispose 
of particular lotts not exceeding- twenty acres to each house 
lott ; And to order the prudentiall affaires of the place at the 
end of which tjme other selectmen shall be chosen and Appointed 
in theire roomes. the selectmen of Groaten giving M r Danforth 
such sattisfaction for his service & paines as they & he shall 
agree ; 

The magis ts haue past this w th reference to the Consent of 
theire bretheren the depu t s hereto 

25 May 1655 Edward Raw son Secrety 

The Deputies Consent hereto William Torrey Cleric. 



A religious temper pervades the whole petition, which in 
its language has the flavor of the Old Testament. It speaks 
of their having been brought over " by a prouidence of 
God," and of their living long in the wilderness. In an- 
swer to it, the Court grants a tract of land to make " a 
Comfortable plantacon," and provides for its survey and 
prompt location ; naming as the chief end the " speedy 
procuring of a godly minister amongst them," and fore- 
shadowing in its action some of the features of the modern 
Homestead Acts of Congress. From these expressions we 
may learn the guiding thoughts of the first settlers of the 
town; and it is now a pious duty we owe them to com- 
memorate their virtues and their deeds. They were men 
and women in every way worthy of all the respect and 
honor we can pay them; and I congratulate those of my 
audience who trace back their family line to that stock. 
The names of Parker, Prescott, and Blood, of whom there 
are so many descendants still among- us; of Farnsworth, 
Lawrence, and Shattuck, names not to be omitted in any 
historical record of the town; of Gilson, Nutting, and 
Sawtell, worthy forefathers of worthy progeny; of Stone, 
Moors, and Tarbell, — all these are familiar to you as the 
names of citizens descended from the founders of the town; 



19 

and there are other names equally worthy to be mentioned, 
that will readily suggest themselves. 

Mr. Deane Winthrop, whose name stands at the head of 
the list of selectmen appointed by the Court, was a son 
of Governor John Winthrop; and it is to him that we are 
indebted for the name of the town. A native of Groton 
in Old England, it was natural for him to wish to keep 
the name fresh and fragrant on this side of the Atlantic. 
Groton, in Connecticut, — younger by half a century, and 
famous as the scene of the heroic Ledyard's death, — owes 
its name to the same family. Groton, in New York, was 
settled, in part, by families from this town. New Hampshire 
and Vermont both have towns named Groton, though they 
are of comparatively recent origin. Why they were so 
called I have been unable to find out, unless it was that the 
fair fame and reputation of the one in Massachusetts had 
made the name auspicious. 

There was a place in Roxbury, a hundred and thirty 
years ago, that was sometimes called Groton.* It was a 
corruption of Greaton, the name of the man who kept the 
" Grey Hound " tavern in the neighborhood. 

The word Groton, the same as the Grotena of Domesday 
Book, probably means Grit-town, or Sand-town, — from 
the Anglo-Saxon, grcot, grit, sand, dust; and tun, village 
or town. The locality of the English Groton is in fact a 
sandy one. A proper pride of birth would suggest that the 
name was doubtless also appropriate by reason of the grit 
or pluck, now as well as then, characteristic of the people 
of any town so named. 

Groton, in Suffolk, England, is an ancient place, — there 
being a record in Domesday Book of its population and 
wealth, in some detail, at the time of William the Con- 
queror, and also before him, under the Anglo-Saxon King, 
Edward the Confessor. A literal translation of this cen- 
sus return of seven hundred and ninety years ago is as 
follows : — 

* New England Historical and Genealogical Register, xxiv. 56 note, 60. 



20 



In the time of King Edward * Saint Edmund held Groton 
for a manor, one carucate t and a half of land. Always [there 
were] 8 villeins and 5 bordarii [a rather higher sort of serfs ; 
cotters]. Always [there was] 1 plough in demesne. Always 
2 ploughs of homagers [tenants] and 1 acre of meadow. A 
mill, for winter. Always 1 work-horse and 7 cattle and 16 
swine and 30 sheep and 2 free men of half a carucate of 
land and they could give and sell their land. Seven bordarii. 
Always 1 plough & 1 acre of meadow [belonging to these 
7 bordarii.] Then [i.e., under King Edward] it was worth 
30 shillings, and now 40. It has in length 7 furlongs and 
4 in breadth. In the same, 12 free men and they have 1 caru- 
cate and it is worth 20 shillings. All these could give and 
sell their land in the time of King Edward. Saint Edmond 
has the soc, protection and servitude [i. e., the lord's legal 
rights]. 7 pence of gelt [i.e., Dane-geld], but others hold 
there. 

Such were the census returns, made nearly eight hundred 
years ago, of the place from which our good old name is 
taken, and which on that account will always be of interest 
to us. 

It is curious to note the different ways which our fathers 
had of spelling the name; and the same persons took little 
or no care to write it uniformly. In those days they paid 
scarcely any attention to what is now regarded as an im- 
portant branch of education. Among the documents and 
papers that I have had occasion to consult and use in the 
preparation of this address, I find the word spelled in 
twenty-three different ways; viz., Groton, Grotton, Groten, 
Grotten, Grotin, Groatne, Groaton, Groatton, Groaten, 
Grooton, Grorton, Grotonne, Grouten, Grouton, Grauton, 
Grautten, Grawten, Grawton, Growtin, Growton, Groyton, 
Groughton, and Croaton. 

* Some idea of the condensed character of the entries in Domesday Book 
may be gathered from the following transcript of the Latin beginning of the 
account of Groton, in which the matter within the brackets is what the Norman 
scrivener omitted: "Grotenafm] tfempore] r[egis] Efdvardi] ten[uit] S[anctus] 
e[dmundus] p[ro] man[erio]," etc. 

t The carucate was a " plough land," and is variously set at from twelve to 
one hundred acres. 



21 



Dictionaries of our language were hardly known at that 
time and there was no standard for spelling; and it seems 
as if every one spelled according to his own feelings at the 
moment. In many cases the odder the form, the better. 
As an instance of orthographic license then prevalent, it is 
said that there are sixty-five different modes in which the 
name of Shakespeare was written. 

Yonder river, familiar to us as the Nashua, is spoken of 
in a record by Thomas Noyes, in 1659, as the Groaten 
River, and is called so more than once. While this would 
have gratified our local pride, I am not sorry that the name 
Nashua was finally kept. It is to be regretted that so few 
of the Indian words have been retained by us to designate 
the rivers and the hills and other localities. However much 
such words may have been twisted and distorted by Eng- 
lish pronunciation and misapplication, they furnish us now 
with one of the few links that connect us with prehistoric 
times in America. The word Nashua,* in its fulness and 
before it was clipped, meant the laud between, and referred 
to the tract on which Lancaster was settled, because it was 
between the branches of the river; the name, however, 
was afterward transferred from the territory to the river 
itself. 

Among the earliest papers at the State House, relating 
to the town, is a request for a brandmark. Joseph Parker 
represents to the Governor and Magistrates, in a writing 
dated May 31, 1666, that he has been chosen constable, 
and asks that the letters Gr — or monogram, as we should 
call it — be recorded as the brandmark of the town. This 
was wanted probably for marking cattle. " In answer to 
this motion the Deputies approue of th e letters : Gr to be 
the brand marke of groaten." (Archives, i. 21.) 

Very soon after the settlement of the town, there was a 
complaint of improper management on the part of the pro- 
prietors, and the General Court appointed a committee to 
look into the matter. This committee visited the place, and 
reported on " the entanglements that have obstructed the 

* Collections of the Connecticut Historical Society, ii. 33. 



22 



planting- thereof," giving at the same time their opinion 
that there was land enough here to furnish subsistence by 
husbandry to sixty families. When Ave consider that this 
opinion was the result of deliberate calculation, on the part 
of disinterested men, before the town was shorn of its 
original dimensions, it shows the vanity of human prophecy, 
and should serve as a warning to us all to abstain from 
prediction in regard to a century hence. There are now 
nearly ten thousand persons in the territory of the original 
Groton Plantation, living mainly by the products of the 
land. 

For some years before the destruction of the town the 
Indians began to threaten the inhabitants. They were 
troublesome neighbors at best, and their movements re- 
quired careful watching. Some of them were friendly, but 
others were hostile and treacherous. They had already 
acquired the taste for strong drink, and, on more than one 
occasion, drunken brawls and fights, which ended in mur- 
der, had taken place between them and the settlers. In 
May, 1668, Captain Richard Waldron built a trucking or 
trading house at Penacook, now Concord, New Hampshire, 
where a few weeks afterward Thomas Dickinson was 
murdered by an Indian; and "rum did it." The affair 
created great excitement, and it has been supposed that 
the brawl prevented a settlement of the place at that time; 
at any rate, none was made until 1726. A warrant was 
issued to the constable of Groton to summon John Page, 
Thomas Tarbell, Jr., Joseph Blood, and Robert Parish, all 
of this town, to appear before the General Court at Boston 
to give their testimony, which they did under oath. It 
appeared from. the evidence that there had been a drunken 
row, and that Tohaunto, the chief, desired them, if they 
had brought any liquor, to pour it on the ground; for, 
said he, it will make the Indians "all one Divill." From 
this it would seem that rum in those days was about the 
same as it is now, — no better and no worse, — for it still 
makes people all one devil. (Archives, xxx. 155, 157, 161.) 

Many of the Indians had now been supplied with fire- 



23 

arms, which made them bold and insolent, and it is not 
strange that the natural tendency of events should have 
been toward open hostilities. We can readily understand 
how the fears of the colonists were excited when they 
thought of their own helpless families and their exposed 
situation. It betokened no cowardice to entertain this feel- 
ing, and it was the part of wisdom to prepare for the worst. 
At an early day there was a military organization in the 
town, and we find the following order in the printed 
Records of Massachusetts, passed October 15, 1673: — 

The millitary company of Groaten being distitut of military 
officers, the Court judgeth it meet to choose & appoint James 
Parker to be theire captaine, W m Lakin to be leiftennant, & 
Nathaniel Lawrence to be their ensigne. 

The thunder of the distant storm now began to be heard, 
and the colonists were asking for protection. They little 
thought that the lightning was to strike so soon and with 
such fatal violence; but in the providence of God it was 
thus ordained. 

Captain Parker writes to Governor Leverett, under date 
of August 25, 1675, that the inhabitants " are in a very 
great strait," and " are very much discouraged in their 
spirits " ; that they want ammunition and twenty good 
muskets for their pike men. The letter itself, with the 
quaint expressions of two centuries ago, will give you a 
better idea of their narrow circumstances than any ex- 
tracts from it ; so I read it entire : — 

To the honoured John Leueret Esquir Gouernour of the Massechusets 
Collony ar 

Honoured. Sir with the rest of your counsell I hau made 
bold to en form your worships how the case stand with vs that 
the Indians are aproachs near to vs our scouts hau discouerd 
seuerall tracks very near the habitable parts of the town and 
one Indian they discouered but escapt from them by Skulking 
amongst the bushes and som of the Inhabitants of our town 
haue heard them in the night singing and halloeing. which 
doe determin to vs their great height of Insolency : we are in a 



24 

very great strait here, our Inhabitants are very much discour- 
aged in their spirits and theirby disenabled from their callings 
I haue receiued 20 men from the worship fall Major Wellard 
and Captain Mossells men to help secur our town, but notwith- 
standing we are in a very weak capacity to defend ourselues 
against the Insolency and potency of the enemy if they shold 
apear in number and with that violenc that they did apear at 
quabog [Brookfield] the which the good lord forbid if it be his 
good pleasur, much honoured and respected the good lord 
be with you In your consultations that you may vnderstand what 
to doe for your new england Israeli at such a tim as this and in 
perticuler ourselues and for our dear neighbours at Lancester 
vpon whom the enemy haue made an Inroad 6 persons are 
already found and buryed the y th which they doe expect is kild 
is not as yet found you may be pleased to tak notice that we 
shall want ammunition spedily by reason that we hau parted 
with som to Cap t Mosselles men and som we spent in the fight 
at quabog as also I hau suplyed the souldiers with amunition 
that were sent to me that was Imployed in the seruice they 
hauing spent their ammunition If you could help vs with 20 
good muskets for our pik men and I will return them again or 
else giu a valluable price for them in such pay as we can pro- 
duce among ourselues not else at present but leaue you to the 
guidance of the God of heauen who is the only wise counsellor 
and remaine y. 

Your seruant to comaund in any seruice to my power 

. „ James Parker Cap* 

from Groten 

August 25 75 

(Archives, lxvii. 244.) 

A few days before the date of this letter, Captain Samuel 
Moseley writes " ffrom Nashowah Allies Lankester: if> th 
Augs* 1675," that, in accordance with instructions from 
Major-General Denison, lie had sent "to G'roatton : 12 : 
men." 

In those days there was no physician in town to offer his 
professional skill to the government in its time of need ; 
and it was necessary to impress into the public service a 
surgeon, as well as a horse and accoutrements, as we find 
from the following order addressed — 



25 

To the Constable of Boston. 

These Require you in his Maj^ 9 name forthwith to Im- 
presse M r W m Haukins Chirurgeon : Imediately to prepare 
himself w th materials as Chirurgeon & to dispatch to Marlboro, 
to Cap* Mosely & attend his motion & souldiers at Groaten. or 
elsewhere : for wch End you are also to Impresse an able horse 
& furniture for him to Goe : w th the Post 

dated at Boston 17 Augus* 1675 making Return hereof to 
the Secret* 

By y e Council 

(Archives, lxvii. 239, 241, 252.) Edw - Ra wson Secret* 

And the constable made the indorsement on the order 
that Dr. Hawkins had been duly warned. 

At this time Philip's War had begun, and open hostilities 
had alarmed the inhabitants of the town. The Council 
passed an order, September 8, 1675, that Cornet Thomas 
Brattle and Lieutenant Thomas Henchman should take fifty 
men, of which thirty were to come from Norfolk and 
twenty from Middlesex, and place them in the garrisons 
of Dunstable, Groton, and Lancaster, in such proportions 
as they should deem expedient. They were to place them 
" vnder the comand of the cheefe military officers of each 
towne : giueing those officers direction : to joyne & lyst other 
meet persons of their owne companyes with them, & order 
them euery day to surraund the townes y e y are to secure; 
& if they can to carry doggs with y m to search for & discouer 
any enimy that may aproch nere such towne & at night to 
repaire vnto such corps du gaurd, as are appointed to them 
for the security of the s d place." (Archives, lxvii. 252.) 

About this time the question of withdrawing a consider- 
able force from the garrisons seems to have been consid- 
ered; but a protest against such action was drawn up and 
signed by Simon Willard and three others, who were prob- 
ably the officers in command. From the representation they 
made, it is not likely that any troops were taken away. 

In the autumn (October 27) of this year, the town was 
assessed £11 10^. as her rate to carry on the war; and, 
when paid in money, one-quarter to be abated. 

4 



26 



The coming winter must have been a hard one for the 
colonists, not only here but elsewhere throughout New 
England. The Indians had burned some towns and threat- 
ened others, and it was a season of distrust and despair. 
The time was rapidly approaching for Groton to suffer; 
and soon the stroke came. The inhabitants would have been 
more than human if they had not felt despondent at the 
hard fate that had now befallen them. They had seen their 
houses and barns burned, and all the results of their labor 
and thrift destroyed in a day. The little meeting-house, 
rudely constructed but no less dear to them, was now a heap 
of ashes. To-day its very site is unknown. Some words 
of consolation, and exhortation to trust in the providence 
of God, fell from the lips of their good pastor, Mr. Willard, 
as they looked tearfully on their ruined homes. He had 
been their guide and teacher during thirteen years ; and 
much that is interesting is known about him. 

Samuel Willard was born at Concord, on January 31, 
1639-40. He was the second son of Major Simon Willard, 
late in life an inhabitant of this town, and he graduated at 
Harvard College in the Class of 1659, being the only mem- 
ber of the class who took his second degree. He came here 
to succeed Mr. John Miller, the first minister of the town, 
who died on June 12, 1663. Mr. Willard began to preach 
probably early in 1663. In that year, on the twenty-first of 
some month, — conjectured to be June, the words of the 
records being so worn as to be illegible, — it was voted 
" that M r . Willard if he accept of it shall be their minester 
as long as he Hues." Against this action there were five 
dissentient votes, which number constituted probably a fourth 
part of all the voters; and they certainly were among the 
principal and most influential inhabitants of the town. Mr. 
Willard must have been a man of a good deal of character to 
have been settled in spite of this opposition, but he seems to 
have lived it down very successfully. His relations with the 
people were always harmonious; and his salary was gradu- 
ally increased until it was double the original amount. The 
first year of his ministry, it was fixed at forty pounds; the 



27 

second year, at fifty pounds ; the third and several successive 
years, at sixty pounds ; and finally at eighty, part of it being 
in country pay. This was the old expression for paying in 
produce. And when the salary was voted, on October 14, 
1672, it was reckoned at five shillings a bushel for wheat; 
four shillings for rye, barley, and peas; with pork and 
beef at threepence a pound ; " and all such as cannot pay 
his third part of his pay in english corn and prouision they 
shall pay In Indian corn at 2 shill p bushell and the re- 
mainder of his pay In Indian Corn at 3 shill p bushell his 
fire wood also aboue his eighty pound. And furder these 
persons here set downe [Sergeant Parker and eleven others] 
doe promise and Ingage to git Mr. Willard hay mowing 
making and fetching home for eight shilling p load at a 
seasonable time (viz.) in the midle of July." 

In his day Mr. Willard was a scholar and writer of con- 
siderable note, and even now would be considered such. 
But little is known of his early life; and no church record 
during his ministry in Groton is extant. Coming here in 
the vigor of young manhood, at the age of twenty-three, 
— if we may judge him from the high position he after- 
ward attained, — it is fair to assume that he exerted a 
strong influence in this neighborhood. It is probable that 
his early experiences here fitted him for the places of honor 
and dignity which he was subsequently called upon to fill. 
A few weeks after his settlement, he married Abigail 
Sherman, a daughter of the Reverend John Sherman, of 
Watertown ; and, after her death, he married, as his second 
wife, Eunice, daughter of Edward Tyng. He had a large 
family of children, of whom five were born in this town. 
One of his great-grandsons, Robert Treat Paine, was a 
signer of the Declaration of Independence. 

In the year 1673 Mr. Willard published a volume of 
sermons entitled " Useful Instructions for a professing 
People in Times of great Security and Degeneracy : de- 
livered in several Sermons on Solemn Occasions." 

It consists of three sermons, of which one was preached, 
probably in the winter of 167 1-2, on the occasion of a 



28 



case of witchcraft that I shall mention shortly. It is evi- 
dent, from a reference in the sermon, that the fame or 
notoriety of the case had spread far from this town. Mr. 
YA'illard says: "There is a voice in it to the whole Land, 
but in a more especial manner to poor Groton; it is not 
a Judgement afar off, but it is near us, yea among us." 

The book is inscribed, " To his Beloved Friends the 
Inhabitants of Groton." Like all the publications of that 
time, it is purely theological, and contains nothing now of 
particular interest. If he had given us even a few lines 
of town history, it would be now almost invaluable. We 
look in vain through its pages for anything that throws 
light on the manners and customs of the early settlers. We 
do find, however, the modes and habits of thought that 
were prevalent in those days ; and with these we must be 
content, for the sermons furnish nothing more. 

In the year 1671 there occurred here a case of so-called 
witchcraft, to which Mr. Willard gave much time and 
thought. He wrote a very long letter (Collections, fourth 
series, viii. 555) to Cotton Mather, describing the minutest 
details in regard to the case, and Dr. Mather refers to it 
in his " Magnalia Christi Americana." (Book vi. chapter 
7, page 67.) The victim of the witchcraft was one Eliza- 
beth Knap, who had the long train of symptoms which 
then were usually ascribed to the personal influence of the 
Evil One, but which nowadays would constitute a well- 
marked case of hysteria. From an expression in Mr. 
Willard's letter, we learn that the girl went to school in 
his house, from which fact we infer that the minister of 
the town was also a teacher of the children. At one time 
on Sundays his dwelling was used as a meeting-house, and 
at other times as a schoolhouse. Its exact locality is not 
known to us, though it was in the present Main Street, near 
the site of the High School building. From another ex- 
pression in the letter, we learn there was " a great meadow 
neere the house," which could be seen from one of the 
windows in a lower room, undoubtedly referring to Broad 
Meadow. 



29 

The assault by the Indians on the town was followed by 
the breaking up of the place and the scattering- of its in- 
habitants. Mr. Willard never returned to his pastorate. 
Soon afterward he wals installed over the Old South Church in 
Boston, as the colleague of the Reverend Thomas Thacher. 
In the year 1701 he was chosen Vice-President of Harvard 
College, which office he filled till his death, at the same time 
performing the duties of minister of the Old South. His 
connection with the College was really that of President, 
although he was called the Vice-President. The distinction 
was nominal rather than real. The President was obliged 
by the rules to live at Cambridge, and this he was unwill- 
ing to do ; so he acted as such without the title. 

As minister of the Old South, Mr. Willard baptized 
Benjamin Franklin. The young philosopher was born 
in Milk Street, directly opposite to the meeting-house, 
whither he was taken to receive the sacrament of baptism 
while yet his earthly pilgrimage was limited to a few hours 
of time. 

Mr. Willard's health began to fail, as he approached his 
threescore years and ten, the period of life allotted by the 
Psalmist, and he presided for the last time at the College 
Commencement, in July, 1707. In August, the Governor 
and Council were notified that he was not capable of doing 
the work at Cambridge for another year. He died on 
September 12, 1707. 

Dr. Ebenezer Pemberton, in his funeral sermon, says of 
him that, " At first in his younger Years, his Master com- 
mitted to his Pastoral Care a Flock in a more obscure part 
of this Wilderness : But so great a Light was soon ob- 
served thro' the whole Land : And his Lord did not design 
to bury him in obscurity, but to place him in a more Emi- 
nent station which he was qualified for" (p. 70). 

Several printed accounts of Philip's War appeared very 
soon after it was ended ; and these furnish nearly all that 
is known in regard to it. In those days there was no 
special correspondent on the spot to get the news; and, as 
the facilities for intercommunication were limited, these ac- 



30 

counts differ somewhat in the details, but, taken as a whole, 
they are fairly accurate. 

It is recorded in the inventory of his estate on file in the 
Middlesex Probate Office at East Cambridge that Timothy 
Cooper, of Groton, was " Sleine by the Indians the Second 
of march 1675-6." Cooper was an Englishman by birth 
and lived, probably, somewhere between the present site 
of the Baptist Meeting-house and the northerly end of 
Farmers' Row. It is not known that there was other loss 
of life in the assault of March 2, but the affair was seri- 
ous enough to alarm the inhabitants. On March 9 the 
savages again threatened the beleaguered town, and again 
for the third time on March 13, when by a cunningly 
contrived ambush they managed to entrap four men at 
work, of whom one man was killed and one captured, while 
the other two men escaped. Without much doubt John 
Nutting was the one killed. During these three assaults 
so many houses and barns were burned that the inhabitants 
were left thoroughly disabled and without means of living. 
The alternative now was to abandon the place, which soon 
followed. 

The loss of life or limb sustained by the English during 
these attacks, fortunately, was not large. So far as is now 
known, only two persons were killed and two wounded. 
It is recorded, however, that John Morse, the town-clerk, 
was carried off ; but he did not remain long a prisoner. 
Within a few months of his capture, he was ransomed by 
Mr. John Hubbard, of Boston, who paid about five pounds 
for his release. This sum was soon afterward reimbursed 
to Mr. Hubbard by a vote of the Council. (Archives, 
lxix. 48.) 

These contemporary accounts of the assault on the town 
are all short, with the exception of Hubbard's; and I 
purpose to give them, in the words of the writers, for 
what they are worth. The first is from " A Brief History 
of the Warr With the Indians in New-England," by In- 
crease Mather, published in the year 1676. This account 
— probably the earliest in print — is as follows : — 



3i 

March the lOtJi. Mischief was done, and several lives cut 
off by the Indians this day, at Groton and at Sudbury. An 
humbling Providence, inasmuch as many Churches were this 
day Fasting and Praying (p. 23). 

March 13. The Indians assaulted Groton, and left but few 
houses standing. So that this day also another Candlestick was 
removed out of its place. One of the first houses that the 
Enemy destroyed in this place was the House of God, h.e. which 
was built, and set apart for the celebration of the publick Wor- 
ship of God. 

When they had done that, they scoffed and blasphemed, and 
came to Mr. IV Mar d (the worthy Pastor of the Church there) 
his house (which being Fortified, they attempted not to destroy 
it) and tauntingly, said, What will you do for a house to pray 
in now zee have burnt your Meeting-house? Thus hath thei 
Enemy done wickedly in the Sanctuary, they have burnt up 
the Synagogues of God in the Land ; they have cast fire into 
the Sanctuary ; they have cast down the dwelling place of his 
name to the Ground. O God, how long shall the Adversary 
reproach f shall the Enemy Blaspheme thy Name for ever? 
why withdrawest thou thine hand, even thy right hand? pluck 
it out of thy bosome (p. 24). 

Several accounts of the war appeared in London in 1676, 
only a few months after the destruction of this town. They 
were written in New England, and sent to Old England, 
where they were at once published in thin pamphlets. The 
authors are now unknown, and they undoubtedly gathered 
their matter from hearsay. At that time Indian affairs 
in New England attracted a good deal of attention in the 
mother country. One of these pamphlets is entitled " A 
True Account of the most Considerable Occurrences that 
have hapned in the Warre between the English and the 
Indians in New England," " as it hath been communicated 
by Letters to a Friend in London." 

This account says that — 

On the 13th of March, before our Forces could return 
towards our Parts, {he Indians sent a strong Party, and as- 
saulted the Town of Growton about forty Miles North-west 
from Boston, and burn'd all the deserted Houses : the Gar- 



3 2 

rison'd Houses, which were about ten, all escaped but one, 
which they carryed, but not the English in it ; for there was 
but one slain and two wounded (p. 2). 

Another account, entitled " A New and Further Narra- 
tion of the State of New England, being a continued ac- 
count of the Bloudy Indian-war," gives the following 
version : — 

The 14th of March, the savage Enemy set upon a consider- 
erable Town called Gronghton, and burnt Major Wilberds 
House first (who with his Family removed to Charts Town) and 
afterwards destroyed sixty-five Dwelling-houses more there, 
leaving but six Houses standing in the whole Town, which they 
likewise furiously attempted to set on Fire ; But being fortified 
with Arms and Men as Garrisons, they with their Shot, killed 
several of the Enemy, and prevented so much of their Designe ; 
Nor do we hear that any Person on our Side was here either 
slain or taken Captive (p. 4). 

A few pages further on, it says that " Grantham and 
Nashaway all ruined but one House or two" (p. 14). 
Few persons would recognize this town under the disguise 
of Grantham; and Nashaway is an old name for Lancaster. 

Another one of these London pamphlets, bearing the title 
of " News from New England," says, — 

The yth. of March following these bloody Indians march't 
to a considerable Town called Croaton, where first they set Fire 
to Major Willard's House, and afterwards burnt 65 more, there 
being Seaventy two Flouses at first, so that there was left stand- 
ing but six Houses of the whole Town (p. 4). 

After these attacks, the town was deserted, and the 
inhabitants scattered in various directions among their 
friends and kindred. The war was soon ended; though 
it was a tedious two years before the early pioneers ven- 
tured back to their old homes, around which still clustered 
many tender associations as well as sad memories. It is 
recorded that other families came back with them. They 
returned, however, to meet hardships that would have over- 
come ordinary men. Several town-meetings were held to 



33 

consider their present needs; and it was voted at one of 
them to petition the General Court that they be relieved 
temporarily from country charges. The petition sets forth 
that, under Divine Providence, they had been great suf- 
ferers in the late war with the heathenish enemy; that they 
had been subjected to grievous losses and privations ; but, 
at the same time, they expressed gratitude to their Heavenly 
Father that they had the liberty and opportunity to return. 
With the eye of faith they saw the hand of God in all 
their trials. This consolation alone supported them, for 
they knew that with Him on their side their troubles would 
disappear, and all would yet be well. In their letters and 
petitions, their humble trust in the providence of God is 
conspicuous. It furnishes the key-note to many of their 
actions that otherwise would seem unaccountable. In judg- 
ing them, we should take the standard of their times and 
not that of our day. The scales should be carefully ad- 
justed to the habits of that period when there were no 
public amusements, no popular reading in the shape of 
books and newspapers, and but little relaxation from 
toil. 

In those early days there was no variety store, or trader's 
shop, as now, where people could gather to while away long 
evenings and to interchange opinions. The roads were so 
rough as to be passable only with rude carts ; and carriages 
at that period were a luxury unknown. The men rode to 
meeting on horseback, with their wives seated behind them 
on pillions. The woman made sure of her position by hold- 
ing tight to the man with her right arm. This mode of 
travel is supposed to have been popular with the young 
folks, when they rode after this fashion. 

At a very early period, the road to the Bay, as it was 
called, — that is, to Boston, — was by the circuitous route 
through Chelmsford and Billerica, where there was a bridge 
built by several towns, — of which Groton was one, — and 
supported jointly by them for many years. In the year 
1699 the towns of Groton, Chelmsford, and Billerica were 
engaged in a controversy about the proportion of expense 

s 



34 

which each one should bear in building the bridge. The 
General Court settled the dispute by ordering this town to 
pay twenty-four pounds and ten shillings as her share in 
full, with no future liabilities. (Archives, cxxi. 99.) 

The lives of our forefathers were one ceaseless struggle 
for existence; and there was no time or opportunity to 
cultivate those graces which we now consider so essential. 
If they were stern and austere, they were at the same time 
also virtuous and conscientious. Religion with them was 
a living, ever-present power; and in that channel went out 
all those energies which with us find outlet in many different 
directions. These considerations should modify the opin- 
ions commonly held in regard to the Puritan fathers. At 
that period women were content with domestic duties, and 
did not seek to take part in public affairs. It is wonderful 
that no murmur has come down to us expressive of the 
tyranny of man in withholding from them the rights 
which are now so loudly claimed. 

After Philip's War the Colonists were at peace with 
the Indians, but it was a suspicious kind of peace. It re- 
quired watching and a show of strength to keep it : there 
was no good-will between the native race and the white 
intruders. 

Captain Francis Nicholson, writing from Boston to Lon- 
don, under date of August 31, 1688, speaks of the feeling 
here at that time. The letter is printed in " Documents 
relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York " 
(iii. 551); and the writer says: — 

Att night [August 19] I came to Dunstable (about 30 miles 
from hence) from thence I sent two English men and an In- 
dian to Penecooke about sixty miles up the river Merymeck; 
the men told me they should be 3 dayes in doeing of it ; soe 
next day I went through Groton and Lancaster, where the 
people were very much afraid (being out towns) butt I told 
them as I did other places, that they should nott be soe much 
cast down, for that they had the happinesse of being subjects 
of a victorious King, who could protect them from all their 
enemies. 



35 

The military company of the town was still kept up, and 
known as the Foot Company; and, during a part of the 
year 1689, was supported by some cavalry, under the com- 
mand of Captain Jacob Moore. James Parker, Sen., was 
appointed the Captain of it ; Jonas Prescott, the Lieutenant ; 
and John Lakin, the Ensign : and these appointments were 
all confirmed by the Governor and Council, at a convention 
held in Boston, July 17, 1689. A month later (August 10), 
Captain Parker was ordered to supply Hezekiah Usher's 
garrison at Nonacoicus with " three men of the men sent 
up thither or of the Town's people, for y e defence of y* 
Garrison being of publique concernmV Groton was one 
of the four towns that were designated, August 29, as the 
headquarters of the forces detached for the public service 
against the common enemy; Casco, Newichewanick (Ber- 
wick), and Haverhill being the others. And we find, soon 
after, an order to send " to the head Quarter at Groton for 
supply of the Garrison there One Thousan d weight of Bread, 
One barrell of Salt, one barrell of powder three hundred 
weight of Shott, and three hundred ffiints, Six quire of 
Paper." Eleven troopers were sent hither, September 17, 
under Cornet John Chubbuck, to relieve Corporal White, 
who was succeeded by John Pratt. The commissary of the 
post at this time was Jonathan Remington, who seems to 
have had but little duty to perform. Shortly afterward the 
order came from the Governor and Council to discharge 
him, as well as Captain Moore and his company of cavalry, 
from the public service. (Archives, lxxxi. 24, 40, 60, 67, 
71, 73, 74, 81, 138.) 

In the year 1690 "J n ° Paige of Groten " went in the expe- 
dition against Canada, under Major Wade; was wounded 
in the left arm, and did not recover entirely for two years. 
His surgeon's bill, amounting to four pounds, was paid 
out of the public treasury. (Archives, xxxvii. 62.) 

These facts show that the early settlers at this time were 
not leading an easy life. The orders and counter-orders to 
even the small garrison show too well that danger was 
threatening. The inhabitants had already experienced the 



36 

cruelty of savage warfare, and knew it to their horror. For 
some years they had been on the constant alert, and held their 
lives in their hands. King William's War was now begun. 
The second attack on the town came in the summer of 1694; 
and the accounts of it I prefer to give in the words of contem- 
porary writers. Sometimes there are variations in such ac- 
counts, but, as a whole, they constitute the best authority. 
Cotton Mather, in his Magnalia, thus refers to it: — 

Nor did the Storm go over so: Some Drops of it fell upon 
the Town of Groton, a Town that lay, one would think, far 
enough off the Place where was the last Scene of the Tragedy. 
On July 27. [1694] about break of Day Groton felt some sur- 
prizing Blows from the Indian Hatchets. They began their 
Attacks at the House of one Lieutenant Lakin, in the Out-skirts 
of the Town; but met with a Repulse there, and lost one of 
their Crew. Nevertheless, in other Parts of that Plantation, 
(when the good People had been so tired out as to lay down 
their Military Watch) there were more than Twenty Persons 
killed, and more than a Dozen carried away. Mr. Gershom 
Hobart, the Minister of the Place, with part of his Family, was 
Remarkably preserved from falling into their Hands, when 
they made themselves the Masters of his House ; though they 
Took Two of his Children, whereof the one was Killed, and the 
other some time after happily Rescued out of his Captivity. 
(Book vii. page 86.) 

Charlevoix, a French missionary in Canada, gives from 
his own standpoint another version, as follows : — 

The Abenaqui chief was Taxous, already celebrated for 
many exploits, and commendable attachment to our interests. 
This brave man, not satisfied with what he had just so valiantly 
achieved, chose forty of his most active men, and after three 
days' march, by making a long circuit, arrived. at the foot of a 
fort [at Groton] near Boston, and attacked it in broad day. 
The English made a better defence than they did at Pescadoue 
[Piscataqua]. Taxous had two of his nephews killed by his 
side, and himself received more than a dozen musket balls in 
his clothes, but he at last carried the place, and then continued 
his ravages to the very doors of the capital. (History of New 
France, iv. 257, Shea's edition.) 



37 

The loss of life from this attack was considerably greater 
than when the town was destroyed and deserted in the year 
1676. There were twenty-two persons killed and thirteen 
captured. The settlement was now more scattered than it 
was then, and its defence more difficult. For this reason 
more persons were killed and taken prisoners than when 
the place was assaulted eighteen years previously. It is 
said that the scalps of the unfortunate victims were given 
to Count de Frontenac, Governor of Canada. Among those 
killed were William Longley, his wife, and five of their 
children ; his eldest child, Lydia, a daughter of twenty, a 
son named John, and Betty, a little girl who died soon 
after her capture, were taken prisoners. These three of 
his family escaped the fury of the savages and were spared. 
Lydia's name is found in a list of prisoners who were held 
in Canada, March 5, 1710-11. Within a few years past, 
a Genealogical Dictionary of Canadian families has been 
published, from which additional facts are gathered con- 
cerning her. This work (" Dictionnaire Genealogique des 
Families Canadiennes," par l'Abbe Cyprien Tanguay, i. 9) 
gives her name as Lydia Madeleine Longley, and says that 
she was the daughter of William and Deliverance (Crisp) 
Longley, of Groton, where she was born, on April 12, 1674. 
In another place (p. 396) she is spoken of as Sister St. 
Madeleine. She was captured by the Abenaquis, a tribe 
of Indians who' inhabited the territory now included in the 
State of Maine. She was baptized into the Roman Catholic 
church, on April 24, 1696, and lived at the Congregation 
of Notre Dame, in Montreal. She was buried on July 20, 

1758- 

Her middle name, Madeleine, was given to her doubtless 
when she joined the Roman church. It is possible that 
she may have lived for a time among the Indians, as many 
of the prisoners taken at the same assault were held by 
them. 

John Longley was twelve years old when he was cap- 
tured. He was carried away, and remained with the In- 
dians for more than four years, — a part of the time being 



3§ 

spent in Canada, and the remainder in Maine. At length 
he was ransomed, but he had become so accustomed to 
savage life that he left it with great reluctance; and those 
who brought him away were obliged to use force to ac- 
complish their purpose. He was afterward a useful in- 
habitant of the town, holding many offices of trust and 
responsibility. 

It is recorded also that two children of Alexander Rouse, 
a near neighbor of Willliam Longley, were killed in this 
assault of 1694. 

Among the English captives at Quebec, redeemed by 
Mathew Cary, in October, 1695, was Thomas Drew, of 
Groton, and he probably was taken at this same assault. 
(Archives, xxxviii. A 2.) There was one " Tamasin Rouce 
of Grotten " received, January 17, 1698-9, on board the 
" Province Gaily " at Casco Bay ; and she probably was 
one of Alexander Rouse's family. She had, doubtless, been 
a prisoner for four years and a half, — the same length 
of time as John Longley's captivity. There are many in- 
stances of children who were kept for a long time by their 
captors. We can now hardly realize the bitter anguish 
felt by the parents over the loss of their little darlings. 
Bring the case home, and think for a moment what your 
feelings would be, if that curly-headed boy or smiling girl 
was snatched from your sight at a moment's notice, and 
carried off by the wild men of the woods for an uncertain 
fate. The kidnapping of one little boy* in a distant city 
in our times has caused the hearts of all the mothers in 
the land to thrill with horror as they heard of the atro- 
cious deed, and to throb in sympathy with the bereaved 
parents. 

In the year 1694 an Act was passed by the General 
Court, which prohibited the desertion of frontier towns by 

* This allusion to little Charley Ross prompted his father, Christian K. 
Ross, of Philadelphia, a few months later to write me a note, under date of 
December 5, 1876, in which he says: — "While my family and self are kept 
in terrible suspense with regard to the fate of our dear child it is pleasant to 
know that so many persons truly sympathize with us in this great affliction." 



39 

the inhabitants, unless permission was first granted by the 
Governor and Council. There were eleven such towns, and 
Groton was one of them. The law required the inhabitants 
of these out-towns, who owned land or houses, to take out 
a special license, on pain of forfeiting their property, before 
they could quit their homes and live elsewhere. It was 
thought that the interests of the Crown would be preju- 
diced, and encouragement given to the enemy, if any of 
these posts were deserted, or were exposed by lessening 
their strength. Many towns were threatened by the Indians 
about this time, and a few were attacked. It is recorded 
that some of the settlers here left the town, and there was 
probably a movement among the inhabitants in other places, 
to do the same. This fact, undoubtedly, caused the enact- 
ment of the law. 

Anything relating to the brave men who suffered in the 
Indian wars is now of interest to us, and I offer no apology 
for giving incidents that to some persons may seem trivial. 

Cotton Mather, in his Magnalia, mentions some instances 
of " mortal wounds upon the English not proving mortal," 
and gives the case of an inhabitant of this town, who was 
in a garrison at Exeter, New Hampshire, when that place 
was assaulted, July 4, 1690. He says that — 

it is true, that one Simon Stone being here Wounded with 
Shot in Nine several places, lay for Dead, (as it was time!) 
among the Dead. The Indians coming to Strip him, attempted 
with Two several Blows of an Hatchet at his Neck to cut off 
his Head, which Blows added, you may be sure, more Enor- 
mous Wounds unto those Port-holes of Death, at which the 
Life of the Poor Man was already running out as fast as it 
could. Being charged hard by Lieutenant Bancroft, they left 
the Man without Scalping him ; and the English now coming 
to Bury the Dead, one of the Soldiers perceived this poor Man 
to fetch a Gasp ; whereupon an Irish Fellow then present, ad- 
vised 'em to give him another Dab with an Hatchet, and so 
Bury him with the rest. The English detesting this Barbarous 
Advice, lifted up the Wounded Man, and poured a little Fair 
Water into his Mouth at which he Coughed ; then they poured 
a little Strong Water after it, at which he opened his Eyes. 



40 

The Irish Fellow was ordered now to hale a Canoo ashore to 
carry the Wounded Men up the River unto a Chirurgeon ; and 
as Teague was foolishly pulling the Canoo ashore with the 
Cock of his Gun, while he held the Muzzle in his Hand, his 
Gun went off and broke his Arm, whereof he remains a Cripple 
to this Day: But Simon Stone was thoroughly Cured, and is 
at this Day a very Lusty Man; and as he was Born with Two 
Thumbs on one Hand, his Neighbours have thought him to have 
at least as many Hearts as Thumbs! (Book vii. page 74.) 

Many families trace back their line of descent to this same 
Simon Stone, who was so hard to kill, and to whom, for- 
tunately, the finishing " Dab with an Hatchet " was not 
given. 

Josiah Parker, of Cambridge, petitions the Governor and 
General Court, May 31, 1699, setting forth the fact that 
his brother, James Parker, Jr., and wife were both killed, 
and several of their children taken prisoners by the Indians, 
in the assault on Groton, in 1694. One of these children, 
Phinehas by name, was redeemed after four years of cap- 
tivity at the eastward, by the master of a vessel, who paid 
six pounds for him. The uncle of the boy represents in the 
petition that he himself had reimbursed the master, and 
now wished that this sum be allowed him from the public 
treasury, which request was duly granted. This poor little 
orphan boy was only seven years old when carried off by 
the savages, and the petition relates that he was lame in 
one of his legs, as a result of the cruelty by his captors. 
(Archives, lxx. 401.) 

It was probably during the attack of 1694 that Enosh 
Lawrence was wounded. He represented, in a petition to 
the Governor and Council, that he was a very poor man 
by reason of wounds in his hands received during a fight 
with the Indians in the former war, which almost wholly 
disabled him from earning a livelihood for himself and 
family. In consequence of these representations the House 
of Representatives allowed him, October 17, 1702, exemp- 
tion from taxes, and an annual pension of three pounds 
during life. (Archives, lxx. 583.) 



41 

On January 21, 1695, Governor William Stoughton issued 
a proclamation, in which he refers to the " tragical outrages 
and barbarous murders " at Oyster River (now Durham, 
New Hampshire) and Groton. He says that several of 
the prisoners taken at these places " are now detained by 
the said Indians at Amarascoggin [Androscoggin] and 
other adjoining places." (Documents relating to the Colo- 
nial History of New York, ix. 613, 614.) 

Cotton Mather says that one man was killed here in 1697, 
and that another, with two children, was carried into captiv- 
ity. The prisoner was Stephen Holden, who was captured, 
with his two eldest boys, John, and Stephen, Jr. John was 
released in January, 1699, at which time the father and the 
other boy were yet remaining in the hands of the savages. 
It was not long, however, before they too were freed; for, 
in the following June, the House of Representatives voted 
three pounds and twelve shillings for the expenses incurred 
in bringing them back. (Archives, lxx. 393-400.) 

After these attacks there was a short respite of hostili- 
ties, which continued till 1704, when the frontier towns 
were again exposed to savage warfare; and this town suf- 
fered with the others. 

Samuel Penhallow, in " The History of the Wars of 
New-England," published in 1726, thus refers to the attack 
on this place, in August, 1704: — 

[The Indians] afterwards fell on Lancaster, and Groaton, 
where they did some Spoil, but not what they expected, for that 
these Towns were seasonably strengthened. . . . 

And yet a little while after they fell on Groaton, and Nasha- 
way [Lancaster], where they kill'd Lieut. Wyler [Wilder], and 
several more (pp. 24, 25). 

A party of Indians, about thirty in number, made their 
appearance in town, and killed a man on the night of Oc- 
tober 25, 1704. Pursuit was at once made for them, but 
it was unsuccessful. 

"The Boston News-Letter," No. 28, October 30, 1704, 
gives the following account of the affair : — 

6 



42 

On Wednesday night an English man was kill'd in the Woods 
at Groton by the Indians which were afterwards deserved in 
the night by the Light of their Fires, by a Person Travailing 
from Groton to Lancaster, and judged they might be about 
Thirty in number; pursuit was made after them, but none 
could be found. 

It is known that the man killed was John Davis, and 
that he lived where W. Dickson's house stood when the 
map in Mr. Butler's History was made; and Davis's Ford- 
way in the river near by, named after him, is still remem- 
bered by a few elderly people of that neighborhood. 

It is not surprising that the inhabitants, upon the re- 
newal of hostilities, were obliged to ask for help from the 
General Court. They had already suffered much in loss 
of life and property, and were little able to bear new bur- 
dens. They represented to the Governor that they had 
been greatly impoverished by the destruction of their cattle, 
and of corn and hay, and that they were scarcely able to 
hold out much longer ; but the crowning calamity of all 
was the illness of the minister, Mr. Hobart, which prevented 
him from preaching. Their means were so limited that 
they could not support him and supply his place besides. 
They were obliged to earn their living at the peril of their 
lives ; and some were thinking of leaving the town. They 
spent so much time in watching and guarding, that they 
seemed to be soldiers rather than farmers. Under these 
discouraging circumstances they asked for help, and were 
allowed out of the public treasury twenty pounds, to assist 
them in procuring another minister, besides ten pounds to 
be divided among those who were the greatest sufferers in 
the late attack upon them. (Archives, cxiii. 391, and lxxi. 
107, 108.) 

Two years later, another assault was made on the town, 
though with but little damage. I again quote from 
Penhallow : — 

[July 21, 1706.] Several Strokes were afterwards made 
on Chelmsford, Sudbury and Groton, where three Soldiers as 



43 

they were going to publick Worship, were way-laid by a 
small Party, who kill'd two, and made the other a Prisoner 
(P. 36). 

A few additional particulars of these " strokes " are 
found in the Reverend John Pike's Journal, as printed in 
the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 
for September, 1875, P a g e l 43> under this entry: — 

July 21, 1706. Sab: 2 souldiers slain, & one carried away 
by the enemy at Groton. They were all new-Cambridge [New- 
ton] men, & were returned to their Post from one Bloods house, 
who had invited y m to Dinner. 

The Reverend Jonathan Homer, in his History of New- 
ton, as published in the Massachusetts Historical Collections 
(v. 27 '3), gives the names of these men as John My rick, 
Nathaniel Healy, and Ebenezer Seger, and says they were 
all three killed by the Indians. This statement, however, 
is inaccurate, as John Myrick was not one of the three 
soldiers, and furthermore he was alive after this date. 
From contemporary petitions on file among the State Ar- 
chives (lxxi. 345, 419), it is clear that two of these men 
were brothers by the name of Seager, and the third man 
was Nathaniel Healy. It was Ebenezer Seager, who was 
killed, and Henry, Jr., taken prisoner. 

Penhallow gives several instances of extreme cruelty to 
the prisoners on the part of the savages, and mentions the 
following case of a man who was captured in this town : — 

A third was of Samuel Butter field, who being sent to Groton 
as a Soldier, was with others attackt, as they were gathering 
in the Harvest; his bravery was such, that he kill'd one and 
wounded another, but being overpower'd by strength, was 
fore'd to submit ; and it hapned that the slain Indian was a 
Sagamore, and of great dexterity in War, which caused matter 
of Lamentation, and enrag'd them to such degree that they 
vow'd the utmost revenge ; Some were for whipping him to 
Death ; others for burning him alive ; but differing in their 
Sentiments, they submitted the Issue to the Squaw Widow, 
concluding she would determine something very dreadful, but 



44 

when the matter was opened, and the Fact considered, her 
Spirits were so moderate as to make no other reply, than, For- 
tune L'guare. Upon which some were uneasy; to whom she 
answered, // by kiting Jiiui, you can bring my Husband to life 
again, I beg you to study what Death you please; but if not 
let him be my Servant ; which he accordingly was, during his 
Captivity, and had favour shewn him (pp. 38, 39). 

Butterfield remained a captive for more than a year. 
It is not known how he obtained his release. We find his 
petition to the General Court, dated April 10, 1706, which 
sets forth the fact that he was an inhabitant of Chelmsford, 
and was sent by Captain Jerathmel Bowers to Groton, to 
help Colonel Taylor, in August, 1704, when the enemy 
came upon the place. He was ordered, with some others, 
to guard a man at work in the field, when the Indians at- 
tacked them, killed one, and captured another besides him- 
self. Butterfield represents, in the petition, that he " made 
all the resistance possible, killed one, and knockt down two 
more after they had seized him, for which yo-' Petitioner 
was cruelly used by them afterwards & threatened to be 
burnt, several times." He says that he " was very well 
accoutred in all respects when he was taken, and then was 
stript of all and was between fourteen and fifteen months 
a Captive expos'd to great hardships, and has sustained 
great Loss and damage." In consideration of his loss and 
service, he was allowed the sum of ten pounds out of the 
public treasury. (Archives, Ixxi. 195.) 

A man was killed here, June 11, 1707. His name was 
Brown, and he is spoken of in Pike's Journal as Mr. Brad- 
street's man. At this time the Reverend Dudley Bradstreet 
was the minister of the town. 

In a list of prisoners in the hands of the French and In- 
dians at Canada, March 5, 1710-11, we find the names of 
" Zech^ Tarbal John Tarbal Sarah Tarbal Matt. Farnworth 
[and] Lydia Longley," all of Groton, though there is noth- 
ing in the record to show when they were captured. (Ar- 
chives, lxxi. 765.) In the spring of 1739, the capture of 
the Tarbell boys is spoken of as occurring " above thirty 



45 

Years ago," and it is said that Zechariah was so young at 
the time that he lost his native language. The town records 
show that he was born January 25, 1700, and John, July 6, 
1695. Sarah Tarbell was a sister of the boys, and was 
taken at the same time with them. I have been unable to 
find out what became of her, as all tradition on this point 
is lost. The history of the two brothers is a very singular 
one, and sounds more like fiction than truth. They were 
sons of Thomas Tarbell, who had a large family of children 
and lived on what is now known as Farmers' Row, a short 
distance south of the Lawrence farm. He was probably 
the " Corp Tarboll," who commanded, in the autumn of 
171 1, one of the eighteen garrisons in the town. The two 
boys were picking cherries early one evening, — so tradition 
relates, — and were taken by the Indians on June 20, 1707, 
before they had time to get down from the tree. It should 
be borne in mind that the date of capture, according to the 
new style of reckoning, was July 1, when cherries would 
be ripe enough to tempt the appetite of climbing youngsters. 
They were carried to Canada, where, it would seem, they 
were treated kindly. Matthias Farnsworth was taken in 
August, 1704, and Lydia Longley, in July, 1694; and dur- 
ing their captivity they both joined the Roman Catholic 
church and never returned to their native land. 

In the year 171 3 John Stoddard and John Williams were 
appointed by Governor Joseph Dudley, to go to Quebec and 
treat with the Governor-General of Canada for the release 
of the New England prisoners. They were accompanied by 
Thomas Tarbell, — an elder brother of the boys, — as we 
find his petition presented to the House of Representatives, 
June 1, 1715, "praying consideration and allowance for 
his Time and Expences in going to Canada, with Major 
Stoddard & Mr. Williams, Anno 1713. to recover the 
Captives." 

The petition was referred, and, on the next day, — 

Capt. Noyes from the Committee for Petitions, made Re- 
port on the Petition of Thomas Tarboll, vis. That they are of 
Opinion that nothing is due from the Province to the said Tar- 



46 

boll, since he proceeded as a Volunteer in that Service to Can- 
ada, & not imployed by the Government, but recommended him 
to the favour of the House. 

The report was accepted, arid, in consideration of Tar- 
bell's services, he was allowed ten pounds out of the public 
treasury. Captain Stoddard's " Journal " of the negotia- 
tions is printed in " The New England Historical and 
Genealogical Register," for January, 185 1 (v. 26), and 
Tarbell's name is mentioned in it. 

We find no further trace of these boys, now grown up 
to manhood, for nearly twenty-five years, when Governor 
Belcher brought their case, April 20, 1739, before the Coun- 
cil and the House of Representatives. He then made a 
speech in which he said that — 

There arc lately come from Canada some Persons that were 
taken by the Indians from Groton above thirty Years ago, who 
(its believed) may be induced to return into this Province, on 
your giving them some proper Encouragement: If this Matter 
might be effected, I should think it would be not only an Act of 
Compassion in order to reclaim them from their Savage Life, 
and to recover them from the Errors and Delusions of the Rom- 
ish Faith; but their living among us might, in Time to come, 
be of great Advantage to the Province. 

The subject was referred the same day to a Committee 
consisting of John Read, of Boston, William Fairfield, of 
Wenham, Thomas Wells, of Deerfield, Benjamin Browne, 
of Salem, and Job Almy, of Tiverton. On the next day, 
April 21, — as we read in the printed Journal of the House 
of Representatives, — the chairman of — 

the Committee appointed to consider that Paragraph in His 
Excellency's SPEECH relating to the Encouragement of two 
English Captives from Canada, viz. John Tharbell and Zecha- 
riah Tharbell. made report thereon, which he read in his Place, 
and then delivered it at the Table; and after some debate 
thereon, the House did not accept the Report; and having con- 
sidered the same Article by Article, the 1 louse came into a Vote 
thereon, and sent the same up to the honourable Board for 
Concurrence. 



47 



On the 23d we find — 



A Petition of Thomas Tharbell oi.Groton, Elder Brother of 
the two Mr. Tharbells lately returned from Captivity in Canada, 
praying he may be allowed the Loan of some Money to enable 
him to pay William Rogers, jun. his Account of Charges in 
bringing his Brethren to Boston. Read and Ordered, That the 
Petition be considered to morrow morning. 

On the next day — 

THE House pass'd a Vote on the Petition of Thomas Thar- 
bell of Groton, praying as entred the 23d current, and 
sent the same up to the honourable Board for Concurrence. 

All these efforts, however, to reclaim the two men from 
savage life proved unavailing; for it is known that they 
remained with the Indians and became naturalized, if I may 
use the expression. They married Indian wives, and were 
afterward made chiefs at Caughnawaga and St. Regis, vil- 
lages in Canada. Their descendants are still living among 
the Indians, and the Tarbells of the present day, in this 
town, are their collateral kindred. Nearly forty years after 
their capture, Governor Hutchinson met them in New York 
State, and refers to them thus : — 

I saw at Albany two or three men, in the year 1744, who 
came in with the Indians to trade, and who had been taken at 
Groton in this, that is called Queen Ann's war. One of them 

Tarbell, was said to be one of the wealthiest of the Cag- 

nawaga tribe. He made a visit in his Indian dress and with his 
Indian complexion (for by means of grease and paints but 
little difference could be discerned) to his relations at Groton, 
but had no inclination to remain there. (Hutchinson's His- 
tory of Massachusetts, ii. 139.) 

This is another account : — 

It is related that, about a century and a half ago, while a 
couple of boys and a girl were playing in a barn at Groton, Mas- 
sachusetts, some Indians suddenly appeared, seized the boys 
and fled, carrying them to the village of Caughnawaga, nine 
miles above Montreal. They grew up with Indian habits, man- 



4 8 

tiers, and language, being finally adopted as members of the 
tribe; and married Indian brides selected from the daughters 
of the principal chiefs. (" The Galaxy/' for January, 1870, 
p. 124.) 

I have been told that the name " Caughnawaga " is a cor- 
ruption of Kaknawaka, which in the Indian tongue means 
" The Rapids." 

The people must have lived in constant dread of the In- 
dians during the period of Queen Anne's War. Sometimes 
an outlying farmhouse was attacked and burned, some of 
the inmates killed and others carried away in captivity; 
sometimes the farmer was shot down while at labor in the 
field, or while going or coming. This was the fate of John 
Shattuck and his eldest son, John, a young man eighteen 
years of age, who were killed on May 8, 1709. 

At another time, the date of which is not recorded, but 
probably in the attack of July, 1694, the house of John 
Shepley was burned, and himself and all his family were 
massacred, except his young son, John. There may have 
been some special spite against him, because some years 
before he had killed an Indian ; for which act he received 
from the General Court a bounty of four pounds. (Archives, 
xxx. 496, 497.) This boy John the savages carried away 
with them and held as captive during several years. But 
as is often said, where there is great loss, there is some 
little gain. The knowledge which he obtained of their lan- 
guage and customs while a prisoner was of much use to him 
in dealing with them in after-life. Tradition relates that, 
when buying furs and skins of the Indians, he used to put 
his foot in one scale of the balance instead of a pound 
weight. He is the direct ancestor of the Honorable Ether 
Shepley, formerly Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of 
the State of Maine, and of General George F. Shepley, now 
a Justice of the Circuit Court of the First Circuit of the 
United States. 

Near the end of Queen Anne's War, we find a list of 
eighteen garrisons in this town containing, in all, fifty-eight 
families, or three hundred and seventy-eight souls. Of 



49 

these, seventeen were soldiers in the public service. (Ar- 
chives, lxxi. 874.) 

The military company posted here in the summer of 
1724 was made up of soldiers from different towns in 
this part of the Province, and was commanded by Lieutenant 
Jabez Fairbanks. Some of them were detailed as guards 
to protect the more exposed garrisons, and others were 
scouting in the neighborhood. They were so scattered that 
the commanding officer found it difficult to drill them as 
a company. Fortunately, however, they were not engaged 
in much fighting, though the enemy had been lurking in 
the vicinity, and threatening the town. Thirteen of Lieu- 
tenant Fairbanks' s company belonged here, and represented 
some of the most influential families in the place. 

Penhallow, in speaking of the Indians at this period, says 
that, — 

The next damage they did, was at Groton, but were so 
closely pursued, that they left several of their Packs behind 
(p. 102). 

In this paragraph he alludes to the killing of John Ames, 
on July 9, 1724, who was shot by an Indian, one of a small 
party that attacked Ames's garrison, near the Nashua River, 
in the northerly part of the town which comes now in 
Pepperell. It is said that he was the last person killed by 
an Indian within the township. The Indian himself was 
immediately afterward shot by Jacob Ames, one of John's 
sons. . (Archives, Hi. 23.) 

Governor Saltonstall, of Connecticut, writes from New 
London, under date of July 23, 1724, that the friendly In- 
dians of that neighborhood seem inclined to hunt for scalps 
about Monadnock and the further side of Dunstable and 
Groton. This was owing to an offer made about this time 
by the Provincial authorities of Massachusetts and New 
Hampshire, of a bounty of a hundred pounds for every 
Indian's scalp taken and shown to the proper officers. This 
premium stimulated volunteers to scour the wilderness for 
the purpose of hunting Indians, and Captain John Love- 

7 



'50 

well, of Dunstable,* organized a company, which soon be- 
came famous. 

The story of Lovewell's fight was for a long time told in 
every household in this neighborhood, and there is scarcely 
a person who has not heard from early infancy the particu- 
lars of that eventful conflict. It was in the spring of the 
year 1725 that Captain Lovewell, with thirty-four men, 
fought a famous Indian chief, named Paugus, at the head 
of about eighty savages, near the shores of a pond in 
Pequawket, now within the limits of Fryeburg, Maine. 
Of this little Spartan band, seven belonged in Groton; and 
one of them, John Chamberlain by name, distinguished 
himself by killing the Indian leader. It is fit that a bare 
reference to this fight should be made on this occasion, 
though time does not allow me to dwell upon it. 

The town, now no longer on the frontiers, was again 
threatened with danger near the end of King George's war. 
A company of thirty-two men, under the command of Cap- 
tain Thomas Tarbell, scouted in this vicinity for six days in 
July, 1748, but they do not appear to have discovered the 
enemy. A few days afterward, another company of thirty- 
six men was sent on a similar expedition, but with no better 
success. In the rolls of these two companies we find many 
names that have been prominent in the annals of the town 
from its very beginning. Among them are the Prescotts, 
the Ameses, the Bancrofts, the Shepleys, the Parkers, a son 
of Parson Bradstreet, and a grandson of Parson Hobart. 

The military service of Groton men was not confined to 
this neighborhood. Daniel Farmer, a Groton soldier, was 
taken prisoner in a skirmish with the Indians, near Fort 
Dummer, on July 14, 1748. He was carried to Canada 
and kept till the following October, when he was allowed 
to return home. 

* The Dunstable of early times is not identical with the present town of 
that name in this State, though situated in the same neighborhood. Old 
Dunstable was a very large township, containing 128,000 acres of land lying 
on both sides of the Merrimack. By the running of the new Provincial line, 
a. i). 1741, it was so cut in two that by far the larger part of her territory came 
within the jurisdiction of New Hampshire. For fuller details, see pp. 129, 130. 



5i 

Fort Dummer was situated on the west bank of the 
Connecticut River, in the present town of Brattleborough, 
Vermont. Two of its early commanders had been con- 
nected with Groton by the ties of kindred. Colonel Josiah 
Willard, in command of the fort for many years, was a 
grandson of Parson Willard ; and he was succeeded in com- 
mand by Lieutenant Dudley Bradstreet, a son of Parson 
Bradstreet, and a native of this place. 

Ebenezer Farnsworth, born in Groton, was captured on 
August 30, 1754, by the St. Francis Indians, at Charles- 
town, New Hampshire. He was taken to Montreal and 
held a prisoner during three years. His ransom was paid 
in the summer of 1755, but he was not then set at liberty. 
Mrs. Johnson and her sister, Miriam Willard, were taken 
at the same time. They were both daughters of Moses 
Willard, who had formerly lived in the south part of this 
town. 

During the French and Indian War, the territory of 
Acadia, or Nova Scotia, fell under British authority; and 
the conquest was followed by a terrible act of cruelty and 
violence. The simple Acadians, unsuspicious of the de- 
signs of the English leaders, were assembled in their 
churches, in obedience to military proclamation, and thence, 
without being allowed to return to their homes, were driven 
at the point of the bayonet on board ships, to be scattered 
over all the English colonies in America. This was done 
with so little regard to humanity that, in many instances, 
wives were separated from husbands, and children from 
parents, never to see one another again. Many an Evange- 
line waited in vain expectation of being reunited to her 
Gabriel, thus torn away from her. Two of these French 
families, ten persons in all, were sent to Groton, where one 
of the mothers died, not many months after her arrival, 
perhaps from the rude transplanting. A few years later 
a French family — perhaps one of these two — is men- 
tioned as living here ; but the household had become divided, 
some of the little children being sent to the neighboring 
towns. Our pity for these unfortunate people will be 



52 



stronger when we reflect that they were miserably poor, 
among a race who spoke a strange language, followed other 
customs, and abominated their religion. Under these cir- 
cumstances their homesickness must indeed have been bitter; 
but we have reason to believe that they were treated with 
tender care by the people here. We are glad to learn from 
the records that they were furnished with medical attend- 
ance, and articles necessary for their bodily comfort. 

Another struggle was now impending, harder than any 
the Colonists had been engaged in. Almost immediately 





Stamp and Counter-stamp 
1765. 



after the French and Indian War, the odious Stamp Act 
was passed, which did much to hasten public opinion toward 
the Revolution. 

I hold in my hand a stamp issued under the authority of 
this Act. On a public occasion, many years ago, Mr. 
Everett said, in speaking of a similar one, that " this bit 
of dingy blue paper, stamped with the two-and-sixpence 
sterling, created the United States of America, and cost 
Great Britain the brightest jewel in her crown." 

The Stamp Act was followed by the Boston Massacre, 
the Boston Tea Party, and the Boston Port Bill, — all too 
familiar to be particularized. These acts excited through- 
out the land a deep feeling for the capital of New England. 
The eyes of all the colonies were now turned toward Bos- 
ton, and she received the hearty sympathy of the whole 
country. The sentiments of the people of this town are 



53 

shown in the following letter from the Town Clerk, which 
is printed in the Massachusetts Historical Collections (fourth 
series, iv. 7, 8) : — 

Groton, June 28th, 1774. 

Gentlemen, — The inhabitants of the Town of Groton, in 
general, are deeply affected with a sense of our public calami- 
ties, and more especially the distresses of our brethren in the 
Capital of the Province, as we esteem the act of blocking up the 
harbor of Boston replete with injustice and cruelty, and evi- 
dently designed to compel the inhabitants thereof to submis- 
sion of taxes imposed upon them without their consent, and 
threatens the total destruction of the liberties of all British 
America. We ardently desire a happy union with Great Britain 
and the Colonies, and shall gladly adopt every measure con- 
sistent with the dignity and safety of British subjects for that 
purpose. 

In full confidence that the inhabitants of the Town of Boston 
will, in general, exhibit examples of patience, fortitude and 
perseverance, while they are called to endure this oppression 
for the preservation of the liberties of their country, and in 
token of our willingness to afford all suitable relief to them in 
our power, a number of the inhabitants of this Town have sub- 
scribed, and this day sent forty bushels of grain, part rye and 
part Indian corn, to be delivered to the Overseers of the Poor 
of said Town of Boston, not doubting but the same will be 
suitably applied for that purpose; and we earnestly desire you 
will use your utmost endeavor to prevent and avoid all mobs, 
riots, and tumults, and the insulting of private persons and 
property. And while the farmers are cheerfully resigning part 
of their substance for your relief, we trust the merchants will 
not oppress them by raising upon the goods which they have 
now on hand and heretofore purchased. And may God prosper 
every undertaking which tends to the salvation of the people. 

We are, gentlemen, your friends and fellow-countrymen. In 
the name and by order of the Committee of Correspondence for 
the Town of Groton. 

Oliver Prescott, Clerk. 

To the Overseers of the Town of Boston. 

The reply, printed in the same volume of Collections, is 
as follows : — 



54 

Boston, July 5th, 1774. 

Sir, — Your obliging- letter directed to the Overseers of the 
Poor of this Town, together with a generous present from a 
number of the inhabitants of the Town of Groton, for the relief 
of such inhabitants of this Town as may be sufferers by the 
Port Bill, is come to hand. In behalf of the Committee of this 
Town, appointed for the reception of such kind donations, I 
am now to return to you and the rest of our benefactors the 
most sincere thanks. The gentlemen may be assured then- 
donations will be applied to the purpose they intend. We are 
much obliged to you for the wise cautions given in your letter ; 
and we shall use our best endeavors that the inhabitants of this 
Town may endure their sufferings with dignity, that the glori- 
ous cause for which they suffer may not be reproached. We 
trust that the non-consumption agreement, which we hear is 
making progress in the country, will put it out of the power 
of any of the merchants to take unreasonable advantage of 
raising the prices of their goods. You will, however, remember 
that many heavy articles, such as nails, &c, will be attended 
with considerable charge in transporting them from Salem. As 
the bearer is in haste, I must conclude, with great regard for 
your Committee of Correspondence and the inhabitants of the 
Town of Groton. 

Sir, your friend and fellow-countryman, 
Signed by order of the Overseers of the Poor, 

Sam. Partridge. 
To the Committee of the Town of Groton, 
in Massachusetts. 

The times that tried men's souls were now rapidly ap- 
proaching; and the rights of the Colonies were the 
uppermost subject in the minds of most people. Groton 
sympathized warmly with this feeling, and prepared to do 
her part in the struggle. A considerable number of her 
inhabitants had received their military schooling in the 
French war, as their fathers before them had received 
theirs in the Indian war. Such persons did not now enter 
upon camp life as inexperienced or undisciplined soldiers. 
The town had men willing to serve and able to command. 
Within a quarter of a mile of this very spot the man was 
born, who commanded the American forces on Bunker Hill ; 



'55 

and, as long as the Story of that battle is told, the name 
of Prescott will be familiar.* 

Before the beginning of actual hostilities, two companies 
of minute-men had been organized in this place; and, at the 
desire of the officers, on February 21, 1775, the Reverend 
Samuel Webster, of Temple, New Hampshire, preached a 
sermon before them, which was afterward printed. It is 
there stated that a large majority of the town had engaged 
to hold themselves, agreeably to the plan of the Provincial 
Council, in prompt readiness to act in the service of their 
country. The sermon is singularly meagre in details which 
would interest us at this time, and is made up largely of 
theological opinion, perhaps as valuable now as then, though 
not so highly prized. 

At this period the Reverend Samuel Dana was the min- 
ister of the town, but, unfortunately for him, he was too 
much in sympathy with the Crown in the great struggle 
now going on for human rights. Mr. Dana may not have 
been a Tory; but he did not espouse the cause of the 
Revolution. The state of public feeling was such that 
everybody was distrusted who was not on the side of polit- 
ical liberty. The people said, " He who is not for us is 
against us " ; and the confidence of his flock was converted 
into distrust. It was easy to see that his influence was 
gone; and almost every minister in New England who 
held similar opinions shared the same fate. It was im- 
portant that the public teacher and preacher should be in 
sympathy with the popular mind on the great political 
questions of the day. This was a period of big events; 
and no man could stand against their crushing force. It 
was evident that his usefulness was ended; and the rela- 
tions between him and his parish were severed without the 
intervention of a regular ecclesiastical council. 

Mr. Dana was a conscientious man; and it was his mis- 
fortune rather than his fault, that he was not more happily 

* On the night of May 21, 1775, the countersign at the camp in Cambridge 
was " Pepperell," and the parole, " Groton." This was undoubtedly in compli- 
ment to Colonel Prescott. 



56 

situated in regard to his people. It is but justice to his 
memory to say that, after Burgoyne's surrender, in the 
year 1777, Air. Dana felt that the Colonial cause was the 
winning one; while before this event he thought that the 
want of success on the part of the Colonists would result 
in their greater misery. He then became satisfied that the 
power of the country was sufficient to sustain the Declara- 
tion of Independence; and ever after he was the uniform 
supporter of all measures looking to its acknowledgment by 
the enemy. It is a little remarkable that Air. Dana, who 
had such a Tory bias that he was obliged to leave the min- 
istry in Groton, should have been a candidate in 1782 for 
the convention to form a constitution for New Hampshire, 
" as a sovereign and independent body politic." 

After his dismissal from the parish, he officiated during 
perhaps a year and a half, in 1780 and 1781, as the minister 
of a Presbyterian society, which had a short existence in 
this town. This was owing chiefly to some of his old 
parishioners, who were dissatisfied with Dr. Chaplin, his 
successor. "While living here, Air. Dana was appointed ex- 
ecutor of the will of John Bulkley, Esq., an attorney-at-law 
in Groton. This position brought him in contact with a 
library, which he used in studying law, though now with 
no professional eye to business. In the year 1779 Thomas 
Coleman, who succeeded Air. Bulkley as a lawyer, had his 
residence and office in Mr. Dana's house; and this circum- 
stance helped him in gaining his new profession. He was 
admitted to the bar in 1781, and began practice at Am- 
herst, New Hampshire. He soon attained high rank in his 
new calling, and received many marks of kindness and 
confidence from his neighbors and fellow-citizens. He was 
offered the appointment to a judgeship of the Inferior 
Court of Common Pleas, which he declined. He afterward 
accepted the office of Judge of Probate, which he kept only 
for a short time. His success as an advocate before a jury 
was marked ; and this was due in part to the fluency of 
speech and the clearness of expression resulting from his 
pulpit experience. 



57 

He died at Amherst, on April 2, 1798, and was buried 
with masonic honors, when the Honorable Timothy Bige- 
low, of Groton, delivered a funeral eulogy, which is in 
print. His name is perpetuated in this town by the Dana 
School. 

During several days before the Battle of Lexington, a 
hostile incursion by the English soldiers stationed in Boston 
was expected by the patriots. Its aim was the destruction 
of stores collected for the use of the Provincial cause; and 
on this account every movement of the British troops was 
closely watched. At this time the Committees of Safety 
and of Supplies voted that some of the stores should be 
kept at Groton; and, if their plan had been fully carried 
out, it is among the possibilities of the war that another 
battle might have been fought in Middlesex County, and 
Groton have been the scene of the action. But open hos- 
tilities began so soon afterward that no time was given 
to make the removal of the stores. It was ordered by these 
committees, April 17, that the four six-pounders be trans- 
ported from Concord to Groton, and put under the care 
of Colonel Oliver Prescott. On the next day it was voted 
that all the ammunition should be deposited in nine dif- 
ferent towns of the Province, of which Groton was one, 
and that one-half of the musket cartridges be removed from 
Stow to Groton. It was also voted that two " medicinal " 
chests should be kept at different places in the town, and 
that eleven hundred tents be deposited in equal quantities 
in Groton and six other towns. (See Journals of the 
Committee of Safety and of the Committee of Supplies 
of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, 1 774-1 775, 
pp. 516-518.) 

In the summer of 1777 the Council of the State recom- 
mended to the Board of War that the magazine in this town 
should be enlarged sufficiently to hold five hundred barrels 
of powder. This recommendation was carried out within 
a few days ; and a corporal and four privates were detailed 
to guard it. A caution was given " that no person be in- 
listed into said Guard that is not known to be attached to 



53 

the American Cause." Later in the autumn, the detail was 
increased to a sergeant and nine privates. (Archives, clxxiii. 
274, 290, 549.) 

Two years afterward some glass was wanted for this 
very building, and for the schoolhouse, as the windows 
were much broken. The selectmen of the town could obtain 
the glass only through the Board of War; and to this end 
they petitioned the Board for leave to buy it. (Archives, 
clxxv. 647. ) The request was duly granted ; and I men- 
tion it as a trivial fact to show one of the little privations 
common in those days. 

It is said in a note-book of the Reverend Dr. Jeremy 
Belknap, of Boston, printed in the Proceedings of the 
Massachusetts Historical Society for June, 1875, page 93, 
that a negro belonging to this town shot Major Pitcairn 
through the head, while he was rallying the dispersed British 
troops, at the Battle of Bunker Hill. It is known that Pit- 
cairn was killed by a negro, but this is, perhaps, the first 
time that he has ever been connected on good authority 
with Groton. The loss of life from this town at that battle 
was larger than that from any other place. One commis- 
sioned officer and ten enlisted men, residents of Groton, 
were either killed or mortally wounded. This statement 
shows the patriotic character of the citizens at that period. 

The record of this town during the Revolution was a 
highly honorable one. Her soldiers achieved distinction in 
the field, and many of them in after-life filled positions of 
trust and responsibility. 

In the year 1776 an Act was passed removing the No- 
vember term of the Court of General Sessions of the Peace 
and Court of Common Pleas, from Charlestown to Groton. 
It may be conjectured that the change was owing to the 
disturbances of the war. Two years later, by another Act, 
this November term was transferred to Cambridge, to take 
the place of the May term, which in turn was brought to 
Groton, where it remained till 1787. It is known that the 
sessions of the Court were held in this meeting-house where 
we are now assembled; and the Court was sitting here 



59 

during the famous dark day of May, 1780. It is highly 
probable that the Shays Rebellion, which broke out in the 
summer of 1786, had some connection with the removal of 
these sessions from Groton. The uprising in Middlesex 
County was confined exclusively to this neighborhood, and 
the insurgents always felt a bitter spite against the Court 
of Common Pleas, which they tried so hard to abolish. The 
action of the Legislature in making the change seems to 
have been in part retributive. 

In his senior year Joseph Dennie, the poet, was rusti- 
cated from college and placed under the care of Dr. Chap- 
lin, the minister of this town. Dennie used to say that he 
was sent away from Cambridge to let his class catch up 
with him in their studies. After he had been here a short 
time, under date of February 24, 1790, he writes to a class- 
mate, giving his impressions of the place. He says : " A 
better, more royal, social club of Lads cannot be found in 
America, college excepted, than at Groton." 

During a part of the first half of the present century, 
Groton had one characteristic feature that it no longer pos- 
sesses. It was a radiating centre for different lines of 
stage-coaches, until this mode of travel was superseded by 
the swifter one of the railway. A whole generation has 
passed away since the old coaches were wont to be seen in 
these streets. They were drawn usually by four horses, and 
in bad going by six. Here a change of coaches, horses, and 
drivers was made. 

The stage-driver of former times belonged to a class of 
men that have entirely disappeared from this community. 
His position was one of considerable responsibility. This 
important personage was well known along his route, and 
his opinions were always quoted with respect. I easily 
recall, as many of you can, the familiar face of Aaron 
Corey, who drove the accommodation stage to Boston for 
so many years. He was a careful and skilful driver, and 
a man of most obliging disposition. He would go out of 
his way to do an errand or leave a newspaper; but his 
specialty was to look after women and children committed 



6o 



to his charge. I remember on one occasion when Mr. Corey 
went out of his customary course, and drove up to a house 
standing by the wayside; and with an elderly woman who 
came to the door he left a message that the baby was better. 
What a weight of sorrow these few words of good cheer, 
before the time of telegraphs, lifted from the heart of an 
anxious grandmother ! I recall, too, with pleasure, Horace 
George, another driver, popular with all the boys, because 
in sleighing-time he would let us ride on the rack behind, 
and would even slacken the speed of his horses so as to 
allow us to catch hold of the straps. 

The earliest line of stage-coaches between Boston and 
Groton is advertised in the "Columbian Centinel" (Bos- 
ton), April 6, 1793, under the heading of " New Line of 
Stages." 

In the year 1802 it is advertised that the Groton stage 
would set off from I. & S. Wheelock's, No. 37 Marlboro' 
(now a part of Washington) Street, Boston, every Wednes- 
day at 4 o'clock in the morning, and arrive at Groton at 3 
o'clock in the afternoon ; and that it would leave Groton 
every Monday at 4 o'clock in the morning, and arrive in 
Boston at 6 o'clock in the afternoon. It seems from this 
that it took three hours longer to make the trip down to 
Boston than up to Groton. In the succeeding year a semi- 
weekly line is mentioned, and Dearborn Emerson was the 
driver. About this time he opened the tavern, at the corner 
of Main and Pleasant Streets, — though Pleasant Street was 
not then laid out, — long since given up as an inn, and 
subsequently burned. There were then two other taverns 
in the place, — the one kept by the Hall brothers, and con- 
tinued as a tavern till this time; and the other kept by 
Jephthah Richardson, on the present site of the Baptist 
meeting-house. About the year 1807 there was a tri- 
weekly line of stages to Boston, and as early as 1820 a 
daily line, which connected here with others extending into 
New Hampshire and Vermont. Soon after this there were 
at times two lines to Boston, running in opposition to each 
other, — one known as the Union and Accommodation 



6i 



Line, and the other as the Telegraph and Despatch. Be- 
sides these, there was the accommodation stage-coach that 
went three times a week, and took passengers at a dollar 
each. 

In the year 1830 George Flint had a line to Nashua, 
and John Holt had one to Fitchburg. They advertise 
" that no pains shall be spared to accommodate those who 
shall favor them with their custom, and all business in- 
trusted to their care will be faithfully attended to." 

There was also at this time a coach running to Lowell, 
and another to Worcester; and previously one to Am- 
herst, New Hampshire. 

Some of you will remember the scenes of life and ac- 
tivity that were to be witnessed in the village on the arrival 
and departure of the stages. Some of you will remember, 
too, the loud snap of the whip which gave increased speed 
to the horses, as they dashed up in approved style to the 
stopping-place, where the loungers were collected to see the 
travellers and listen to the gossip that fell from their lips. 
There were no telegraphs then, and but few railroads in 
the country. The papers did not gather the news so eagerly 
nor spread it abroad so promptly as they do now, and items 
of intelligence were carried largely by word of mouth. But 
those days have long since passed. There are persons in 
this audience that have reached years of maturity, who have 
no recollection of them ; but such is the rapid flight of 
time that, to some of us, they seem very near. 

Groton was situated on one of the main thoroughfares 
leading from Boston to the northern country, comprising 
an important part of New Hampshire and Vermont, and 
extending into Canada. It was traversed by a great num- 
ber of wagons, drawn by four or six horses, carrying to the 
city the various products of the country, such as grain, 
pork, butter, cheese, eggs, venison, hides; and returning 
with goods found in the city, such as molasses, sugar, New 
England rum, coffee, tea, nails, iron, cloths, and the in- 
numerable articles found in the country stores, to be dis- 
tributed among the towns above here. In some seasons 



62 



it was no uncommon sight to see in one clay thirty such 
wagons. 

We are now in our history passing through a period of 
centennial anniversaries, and we shall do well to study care- 
fully their lesson. They are appearing unto us at differ- 
ent times and in different places. Their proper observance 
will kindle anew the patriotic fires of the Revolution, and 
bring out all over the land a common devotion to the 
Republic. 

Time rolls on rapidly, and a century is soon completed. 
There are many in this audience who will see those that 
will be living a hundred years hence. To look ahead, a 
century appears to be a long period ; but, to look back to 
the extent of one's memory, it seems a short one. The 
years fly on wings, and change is a law of Nature. I can 
recall now but two families in the village, that are living 
in the same houses which they occupied in my boyhood ; 
and those two are Mr. Dix's and Mr. Blanchard's. A 
familiar sight at that time was the venerable form of Mr. 
Butler, whose character was well shown in his benignant 
face. His accurate History will be an abiding monument 
to his memory, and his name will be cherished as long as 
the town has a political existence. At that time the Com- 
mon was the playground of the boys, — it had not then 
been fenced in, and there was but a single row of elms 
along the main street. Of the boys that played there, many 
are dead, others have left the town, and only a few re- 
main. And the same can be said of the school-girls. 

The lines are fallen unto us in pleasant places, and we all 
have much to be thankful for. What a contrast between 
our lot and that of our fathers! They had to struggle with 
many hardships. Their life was one of stern, unremitting 
toil, surrounded by cares and anxieties. They had to subdue 
the wilderness, while exposed to the assaults of a lurking 
savage foe. We, on the other hand, now enjoy much of 
the material results of their labor. We have but to cast 
our eyes about us, and see the comfortable homes and 
fertile fields. They left us the means of religious instruc- 



tion, a system of public schools, and an attachment to the 
government which they labored so hard in founding. All 
these they placed in our keeping, and it rests with us to 
preserve them intact for the generations to come. The 
duty with us now is to see that the Republic shall receive 
no harm ; to see that no moral decay — the sure precursor 
of physical decay — shall sap the structure which they 
reared. Our aim should be to leave to our children an 
example as noble as the one that was left to us. 



The three monuments dedicated on this occasion bore the 
following inscriptions: — 

NEAR THIS SPOT 

STOOD THE FIRST MEETING HOUSE OF GROTON 

BUILT IN 1666 

AND BURNT BY THE INDIANS 

13 MARCH 1676 



HERE DWELT 

WILLIAM AND DELIVERANCE LONGLEY 

WITH THEIR EIGHT CHILDREN. 

ON THE 27TH OF JULY 1 694 

THE INDIANS KILLED THE FATHER AND MOTHER 

AND FIVE OF THE CHILDREN 

AND CARRIED INTO CAPTIVITY 

THE OTHER THREE. 



COLONEL WILLIAM PRESCOTT 

COMMANDER OF THE AMERICAN FORCES 

AT THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL 

WAS BORN ON THE 20TH OF FEBRUARY I 726 

IN A HOUSE WHICH STOOD 

NEAR THIS SPOT 



AN 

HISTORICAL ADDRESS 

February 20, 1880 

AT THE DEDICATION OF THREE MONUMENTS ERECTED 
BY THE TOWN 



TO 

Z\)t apemon? of ttjc €\)i\nxtn 

CAPTURED DURING THE INDIAN WARS AND CARRIED OFF 

FROM GROTON, OF WHOM 

SOME MADE HOMES WITH THEIR CAPTORS WHERE THEY 

LIVED AND DIED, WHILE OTHERS CAME BACK TO 

THEIR NATIVE TOWN AND FILLED PLACES 

OF HONOR AND USEFULNESS 

THIS ADDRESS IS INSCRIBED 
BY THE WRITER 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS 

It is the duty of every community to commemorate the 
great deeds and to perpetuate the important events connected 
with its history. The town of Groton is performing that 
duty when she erects the monuments which we dedicate to- 
day. These stones are set up to the pious memory of the 
founders of the town, who worshipped God in that rude and 
humble meeting-house so soon to be destroyed by the In- 
dians; to the sad memory of that unfortunate family who 
on their own threshold were massacred by the savages ; and 
to the honored memory of a military commander, who was 
the ancestor as well as the descendant of a long line of dis- 
tinguished and useful families. 

There were not many places in the Massachusetts Colony 
settled earlier than this good old town; but old as she is, 
she is yet too young to forget her children. With motherly 
affection she watches their career and notes their deeds. It 
matters not when they lived or when they died, their names 
are still remembered at the old home. It matters not whether 
they achieved distinction, as the world goes, or whether they 
pursued the even tenor of their way in quiet paths, — their 
memory is equally dear in the family circle. Connected with 
some of them are certain local incidents of historical interest 
which deserve to enter into the thoughts of future genera- 
tions. And I submit that it is sound public policy to mark 
the spots so closely associated with such events. It is an act 
in memory of the dead, for the benefit of the living. It is 
a debt due from the present to the past, and the town cheer- 
fully recognizes the obligation. With us and those who fol- 
low us, these monuments will mean veneration for the virtues 
of the early settlers, sympathy for their misfortunes, and an 
appreciation of their noble deeds. 



;o 

The pioneer Puritans aimed at establishing a Christian 
Commonwealth on this continent ; and the General Court, in 
granting plantations or townships, often required that there 
should be a sufficient number of settlers to support a minister. 
Every man was obliged to pay his share of the cost, and no 
one seemed inclined to question the right of such an obliga- 
tion. Groton was incorporated as a town, on May 25, 1655, 
and in the grant the General Court expressed the desire that 
it should be laid out "with all Convenient speede that so 
no Incouragement may be wanting to the Peticone r s for a 
speedy procuring of a godly minister amongst them." Vari- 
ous circumstances conspired to hinder the growth of the new 
settlement, and, much to the disappointment of the peti- 
tioners doubtless, it was some years before a minister was 
settled. The very first entry in the earliest book of town 
records — known as " The Indian Roll " — refers to the 
building of a house for the minister and the place for the 
meeting-house. It is as follows : — 

Att a generall towne meet[ing,] June. 23. 1662. 

It was agreed vppon that the house for the Minister should be 
set vppon the place where it is now framinge. 

Also that the meetinge house shall be sett vpon the right hand 
of the path by a smale whit Oak, marked at the souwest side 
with two notches & a blaze 

It is very likely that the minister's house was built about 
this time, as it was then in the framing; but the meeting- 
house was not erected until four years afterward. The 
dwelling stood near the site of the present High School, and 
for several years the inhabitants met in it for worship on 
Sundays. It was a good-sized building; for it was used as 
a town-hall and schoolhouse as well as a meeting-house, and 
subsequently, at the outbreak of Philip's War, as a garrison- 
house, when it was in the possession of Parson Willard. 

The exact spot where the meeting-house stood cannot now 
be ascertained, but its neighborhood is well known. The 
nearest clew to the site is found in the following entry in 
" The Indian Roll " : — 



7i 

The Record of y e landes granted to M r gershom hubard at a 
ginrall town meeting June 29 1678 viz all the common land that 
lye neare the place wheir the old meeting house stood Dunstable 
hye way runing thorow it and the hye way Runing into the cap- 
tains land wheir it may be Judged most convenient by them that 
are to lay it out 

This record would place the site very near to the North 
Common, and nowhere else. As the meeting-house was 
" sett on the right hand of the path," it must have stood on 
land now owned by Governor Boutwell. The principal roads 
met here or near this place, and it was the most convenient 
spot that could have been chosen. There were at that time 
probably not more than fifty families living in the town ; of 
these, perhaps fifteen were in the immediate neighborhood, 
and the others were scattered widely apart, mostly on the 
road to the Bay, as the road to Boston was called, and on the 
Lancaster highway. These were the two principal thorough- 
fares of that early period, and they converged to a point near 
the meeting-house. 

The circumstantial evidence in the case goes also to con- 
firm this view in regard to the site. At a town meeting held 
March 5, 1665-66, it was voted that a pound should be built 
for the town's use, and be placed near the meeting-house. 
Unfortunately, the leaf of the original record containing 
this vote is now lost ; but it was seen and examined by Mr. 
Butler, who quotes it in his History of the town (p. 41). 
At this time the meeting-house was not built, but the place 
for it had been selected. There is no reason to suppose that 
the site of the pound was ever changed until within compar- 
atively modern times ; and there are many in this audience 
who remember the identical spot where it formerly stood, 
which was near the North Common. 

Shortly after the re-settlement of the town, subsequent to 
its burning by the Indians, the usual discussion took place 
about choosing the site of the meeting-house, which always 
occurs in every small community. It was not peculiar to 
this town nor to that time, but is common to-day, here and 
elsewhere. On June 8, 1680, it was voted — 



72 

that the meeting house shall stand wheir the other meeting 
house or some wheir their about. 

This second meeting-house is known to have stood on the 
Middle Common, near the Chaplin Schoolhouse ; and this 
would be in accordance with the vote that it should be on the 
old site, or " some wheir their (.bout." 

The next allusion to church affairs, found in the public 
records, is the following: — - 

At a generall Towne meeting. March 18. 1663. It was gener- 
al [ly] agreed, as folloeth 

first. That M? Millar is by the Consent of the Towne ma[ni]- 
fested by vote to be desired if God moue his hart there unto to 
continve still with vs for our further edificatfion. ] Richard 
Blood desents from this in regard of the time of o r desiring him. 
w c he would have to be after the gen : Court. 

2!- v That Mi' Miller shall haue a Twenty Acar lot layd out to 
him acording to the Townes grant to him 

This vote gives the name of the first minister of Groton, 
and contains the only reference to him now found in the 
town records. The inhabitants little thought at the time 
that he would be called upon so soon to render the account 
of his stewardship on earth. In three short months after the 
town had invited him to continue with them as their friend 
and pastor, his labors ceased, and he went to take his reward. 
In the first return of deaths, made by the town clerk of 
Groton to the clerk of the courts, the record of his death is 
thus given : — 

M r Jn? Miller minister of Gods holy word died. June 12^ 
1663. 

In the church records of Roxbury, kept at that time by 
the Reverend Samuel Dan forth, and containing references 
to events throughout New England, it is written that — 

June. 14. [1663.] M r John Miller Preacher of y e Gospell at 
Groyton, somtime Pastor to y e church at Yarmouth rested fro 
his labours. 

It will be seen that the date of his death in these two rec- 
ords differs by two days, but the one given by the town clerk 



73 

is probably correct. As the pioneer preacher of the town 
when it was yet a wilderness, Mr. Miller deserves more than 
a passing notice. 

The Reverend John Miller graduated at Gonvil and Caius 
College, Cambridge, England, in the year 1627, and came to 
this country in 1637. He lived for a short time in Roxbury, 
where he was one of the elders in Eliot's church. He was 
settled in the ministry at Rowley, from the year 1639 to 
1 64 1, and perhaps later, as an assistant to the Reverend 
Ezekiel Rogers ; and during this time he filled the office of 
town clerk. He was made a freeman of Massachusetts, May 
22, 1639. In the autumn of 1641, he was waited on by mes- 
sengers from Woburn, who desired his services for their 
church ; but they found " Mr. Roggers loth to part with 
him." 

Johnson, in his " Wonder-Working Providence of Sion's 
Saviour, in New England," refers to him both in prose and 
in verse. The following is a specimen of the poetry : — 

With courage bold Miller through Seas doth venter, 
To toy I it out in the great Western wast, 

Thy stature lozv one object high doth center; 
Higher than Heaven thy faith on Christ is plac't: 

(Chap. XL P . 131.) 

In the year 1642 letters were received from Virginia set- 
ting forth the great need of ministers in that distant colony. 
The communications were treated with much formality and 
gravity, and were read publicly on a lecture-day. In view of 
the statements made in the letters, the elders appointed a 
time for their special consideration ; and the legislature 
voted that, if the churches consent, the magistrates would 
recommend the missionaries to the government of Virginia. 
After careful deliberation, Mr. Miller was appointed with 
two other ministers ; but he was forced to decline the invi- 
tation, on account of bodily infirmities. 

Mr. Miller's name appears in the list of grantees of New- 
bury, December 7, 1642. A lot of land in Rowley was 
granted him in January, 1643-44, which indicates that his 
ministry may have still continued in that town. From Row- 



74 

ley he moved to Yarmouth, where he was the settled minis- 
ter, though the exact date of his removal is not known. 
His daughter, Susannah, was born at Yarmouth, May 2, 
1647; an d he undoubtedly was living there at this time. 
He was probably the Mr. John Miller who was made a free- 
man of Plymouth Colony June 1, 1658. In the summer of 
1662 he was a member of the council that convened at Barn- 
stable to consider the case of John Smith and others who had 
seceded from the Barnstable church. It is not known exactly 
when Mr. Miller came to Groton ; but probably some time 
during 1662, as in that year the town voted to build a house 
for the minister. 

His wife, Lydia, had previously died in Boston, August 
7, 1658, leaving a large family of children, one of whom, 
John, was born in England. Mr. Miller was a man of de- 
cided literary attainments, and a devoted servant of Christ. 

In less than ten days after Mr. Miller's death the town 
voted to invite the Reverend Samuel Willard to be their 
minister. The vote was as follows : — 

[Ju]ne2i [i6]63 Its agreed by the Towne & manifested by 
vote that M? Willard if he accept of it shall be their minester as 
long as he Hues w c M r Willard accepts Except a manifest provi- 
denc of God apears to take him off 

These persons folloing doe desent from this former vot. Rich- 
ard. Sawtell. Samuell Woods. James Parker : John Nutting 
James ffiske 

Its agreed by the major part of the Towne that M? Willard 
shall haue their interest in the house &. lands that was devoted 
by the Towne for the minestry successively, provided they may 
meete in the house on the lords day &. vpon other ocasions of 
the Towne on metings. And these persons ffollowing desent 
from their act 

James Parker Ric. Sawtell Willia m Longley John nutting 
Tho. Tarbole. Jun. 

Richard Blood and John Clary att present 

James ffiske. John longley. Joh laran[ce] Joseph laranc. 

It was then the custom throughout the Colony to settle 
a minister for life ; and it was not supposed that a town could 
prosper without a regular pastor, which accounts for the 



75 

promptness in choosing Mr. Willard. He was a recent 
graduate of Harvard College, and was just entering upon 
his chosen profession. At the outset there was some oppo- 
sition to him on the part of a few men, but this subsequently- 
disappeared. It reached its height in the course of a few 
weeks, when there was much asking of mutual forgiveness, 
as may be inferred from the records, which are in part de- 
stroyed, though enough remains to show this fact. The im- 
perfect records read thus : — 

[Date torn off.] 

... to excercise am ... all Edification in the ways . . . 
glory & o r owne everlasting goo . . . vs And further desiring 
y e Lord to . . . what hath been herein any way off [ensive] vnto 
him and to help euery one of vs to forg[et] & forgiue what hath 
been any way offensiue [to] each other as we desire the Lord 
to forgiue vs 

The opposers, to whom the dissension was due, may have 
thought that he was too young and ill-suited to lead a flock 
amid the dangers and hardships of frontier life. Their 
fears, however, proved groundless : he showed himself on 
all occasions to be equal to the emergency, and in after-life 
attained a high degree of distinction. At the next meeting 
his salary was agreed upon as follows : — 

[Sept.] 10 i : It is agreed by y e Consent of the Towne & 
manifested by vote that Mr Willard shall haue for this year 
forty pounds and if God be pleased so to despose of his & our 
hearts to continue together after the expiration of the yeare 
(w[e] hope) by o r aproving of him & he of vs we shall we shall 
[sic] be willing to ad vnto his maintenanc as [God] shall blesse 
vs. expecting allso that he shall render vnto our pouerty if God 
shall please to deny a blessing vpon our labours 

2. It is agreed & voted his yeare shall begin the first day of 
July last past. 

It would seem from this vote that Mr. Willard entered 
upon the cares and duties of his ministerial life on the first 
day of July, 1663, only three weeks after Mr. Miller's death. 
It is probable that the minister's house at this time was fin- 
ished, and Mr. Willard living in it, and preaching there on 



76 

Sundays. Not unlikely in pleasant weather he would stand 
in the doorway and exhort his hearers outside; and when it 
was stormy they would crowd inside, listening with the same 
attention. We can imagine how it would try the patience of 
a good housekeeper to do the necessary cleaning after such a 
promiscuous gathering. At that time Mr. Willard had not 
entered upon those matrimonial relations which he took upon 
himself soon afterward, and there was consequently no Mrs. 
Willard to look after the minister's house and keep it in 
order. In this emergency the town passed the following 
vote : — 

Sep. 21 63 It is agreed by y e Towne w th John Nuttin & voted 
that he the said John shall keepe cleane the meeting house this 
ye[ar] or cause it to be kept cleene & for his labour he is to 
h[ave] fourteen shillings 

In the mean time Mr. Willard was giving satisfaction to 
the town, all opposition to him having apparently ceased. 
Although there had been preaching here for two years, it 
would seem, from an entry in the Roxbury church records, 
that a church had not been regularly established. It is as 
f( »llows : — 

July. 13. [1664.] A church gathered at Groyton & Mr Wil- 
lard ordained 

The distinction is purely technical, and relates solely to 
matters of ecclesiastical government and congregational 
polity. The Puritans laid great stress on questions of this 
kind, and until a church was gathered the seals or sacra- 
ments could not be administered. During these two vears 
of preaching the Lord's Supper was never celebrated, and 
children were taken elsewhere to be baptized. This would 
make July 13. 1664, the date of the organization of the first 
church at Groton, as well as of the first ordination. 

A few weeks after this time, Mr. Willard took a young 
wife, Abigail Sherman by name, the daughter of the Rev- 
erend John Sherman, who was the minister of Watertown. 
She lightened the labors of her husband, and made herself 
useful and beloved in the neighborhood. In the summer of 



77 

1665, — the exact date of the record being torn off, — Mr. 
Willard's salary was increased by ten pounds, a heavy tax 
at that time ; and his family was also increased by about the 
same amount, his eldest child being born on July 5. The 
record reads thus : — 

It was ... of M r Willerde our . . . declared by voate y* 
our time of . . . yerly so longe as god shall please to . . . 
gether shall begine and ende vpon the 29 [d]ay of September 

It is furthermor agreed and decleared by voate y t M? Willerde 
shall be alowed in consideration of his labours amonste vs this 
next yere Inseui[ng] the full pposion of fifteye pounds to be payd 
by euery Inhabetant acordinge to his pposion and as nere as may 
be in y* which his nessety requir[es] and furthermor in con- 
sideriation of the tim being betwene the furste of July laste past 
and y e last of September next we do herby agree and promise 
vnto him y* we will paye him twentey pounds for the first thirde 
parte of tim at or befor the last of September next and twentey 
pounds mor at or befor the furste of May next and twentey 
too pounds and 10 shilings more at or before the last of Septem- 
ber next after which will be in y e yere i( 



The visible church in the wilderness was now beginning 
to prosper. It was outgrowing the accommodations fur- 
nished by the minister's house, and something larger than 
an ordinary dwelling was needed. For a long time it must 
have been a matter of much thought, and the great question 
of the day among all classes of this little community. 
Finally the matter culminated in the following vote : — 

At a town metting vpon The 21 of the 7 mo th 1665 It was 
this Day agred and voated y* they will haue a metting house bult 
forthwith.] 

It was this day agreed and by voate declard y* Sargent James 
Parker and Richerd Blood shall make the couenenant with the 
carpenders for the caring one the worke puided y* noe other pay 
shall be Requrd of any man puided he will pay his proposon in 
his labour giung the carpenders a wekes warng 

A few weeks later we find in the records the following 
contract, made between the town and Mr.'Willard, and duly 
signed by the different persons whose names are affixed : — 



78 

1 6 of the 10 mo th 1665 It was this day agreed and by a 
vnanams voatte declared y* for as much as god by his puidanc 
haue setteled Mr Willerd our Rauerante Pastor by sole[mn] 
Ingeagment amunst vs we do therf [ore] frely giue him y l acom- 
adatione formerle stated to the minestry to gether with the 
house and all other apartanances apertayni[ng] ther vnto to him 
and his for eur from this day forth puided he do contineue with 
vs from this day forth till seaue[n] yers be xpired. But in 
cause he shall se cause to remoue from vs be for the seauen yers 
be xpired it is ag[reed] by our Rauerant paster one one par[t] 
and the town one the other y* he shall leaue thes holle acomada- 
tione to the town and be aloued what it shall be Judged by In- 
deferant men mutally ch[osen] on both parteys and so the hous 
and lan[d] to Remayn the towns to despose of haung aloued as 
aforsayd for what improument he haue made vpon it But if it 
shall pleas god to take him by death then the house and land 
... to his eayers frely for euer 

and hervnto we do enterchangebly sett to our hands the day 
and yer aboue wretten 

Sam ll Willard James Parker 

William Lakin 
James knop 

In the name and with the consent of the towne 

In the summer of 1666 Mr. Willard's salary was again 
increased; and at the same meeting several votes are re- 
corded in relation to the meeting-house. 

at a generall town meeting held 26 [probably 5th month, 
1666.] . . . It was agreed and declared by vote that our re [ver- 
end] Pastor M r Willard should haue sixty pounds al [lowed] 
him for this year Ensuing : beginning at the 29 of Semptember 
1666: 

And also euery inhabited, is hereby ingaged to pay vnto our 
reuerent Pastor the third pt. of his pption in merchantable corne 
at price currant and also to cutt and Car[t] to his house and 
there to Cord for him the aforesaid 30 cord of wood at fiue 
shilling p cord, betwixt this & the 25th io™ 

Att the same mcctinge, Nathaniell Lawrenc and Samuell 
Woods now agreed with to lay the planks vpon the meeting 
and to do them sufficiently, and they are to haue 4 s 6:d p 000 
alowed them in the meeting rate 



79 

Att the same meeting, James Knapp & Ellis [Barron] were 
agreed with to make 2 doores for the meeting house & to mak 
2 p of stares for i £ : and to lay the vpper floure for 4 s 6 

At the same meating Will Greene and Joshua Whittney where 
cohosen, to he[lp] the Glassiar Goodm[an] Grant to bring vp 
his glasse and to be allowed for their tim in the meeting house 
rate 

In December, 1666, "a true account" in detail of the 
cost of the meeting-house was rendered, giving the sum 
total of the expense up to that time. In modern phrase, 
we should say that the building committee made a report, 
giving the items of the cost, — although it was not signed 
by any of the members. It is as follows : — 

A true account of all the pticuler soms of all the work done to 
the meeting house frame and other charges as nailes hookes & 
hinges glasse and pulpit et : 

Inpr for Thatch 

It to John morsse for thathing and getting withs 

It for wages for those did attend the thatcher 

It carting clay & stones for daw[b]ing the wall & 

under pinning 
It the dawbing of meeting house walls 
It laths and nailing on 
It for nailes 

It for nailling on the clap bords 
It for getting the sleepers and laying of them 
It for planks 600 & halfe 
It fo seanson bords 700 & 5 foot 
It for laying of the lower flore at 4 s 6 d p 000 
It making doores and two payres of stares 
It for laying 40382 of bords on the gallery floors 
It for shutts for the windows and making p'uison 

for M r Willard to preach till we haue a pulpitt 
It making a pulpitt 
It for glass for the windows 
It for 200 of bords and more nails and more work 

done by carting & laying seats &c 

50 16 10 



5- 


- 





1 


13 





5 


14 


8 


3 








4 


I2 £ 


' 6 


2 


O 





3 


12 


3 


7 


10 


8 


1 


4 





2 


18 


6 


2 


12 


10 


1 


8 


2 


1 








2 











10 





3 








3 


5 





1 


8 






8o 



The meeting-house was now built and ready for use. I 
doubt if there was a person in the town who rejoiced more 
at this result than Mrs. Willard ; and her congratulations 
to the minister and brethren must have been hearty and sin- 
cere. In housewifely language, homely but expressive, there 
was to be no more tracking in of mud on Sundays, and no 
more cleaning, after a hard day's washing, on Mondays. 

There was no dedication of the building, for this would 
have been contrary to the usages of the Puritans. They 
never indulged in such ceremonies; and if the town had 
then erected these historical monuments they never would 
have had the exercises of this afternoon. Perhaps some of 
you may think that it would have been wiser if this genera- 
tion had acted in the same way. It is not unlikely, however, 
that Mr. Willard took a suggestive text and preached an 
appropriate sermon on the first Sunday that the building was 
used ; but of this there is no record. I hold in my hand, 
however, a little volume* containing three sermons which 
were preached there by Mr. Willard at other times. It is 
entitled, — 

* This copy has a special interest for me, as it once belonged to a reverend 
ancestor of mine, and bears his autograph signature on the title-page. It came 
into my possession very lately, after being out of the family for more than one 
hundred and eighty years. 



8i 



VSEFVL INSTRVCTIONS 

for a prof effing People in Times of great 
SECURITY AND DEGENERACY: 

Delivered in feveral 

SERMONS 

on Solemn Occafions: 

By Mr. Samuel Willard Pallor of the Church of Chrift 

at Groton. 

CAMBRIDGE: 

Printed by Samuel Green* 
1673. 

It is a book of exceeding rarity, — only three copies are 
known to be extant, — and it forms the only relic which 
time has spared of the first meeting-house of Groton. It 
suggests many a contrast between that dreary and unfinished 
building where our fathers met for worship, and this spa- 
cious and commodious hall where we are now assembled. 

Like all meeting-houses of that period of which we have 
any record, this structure was probably square or nearly so, 
and, as we have reason to suppose, measured about forty 
feet each way. It was two stories in height, and had two 
doors. The roof was thatched, and probably a steep one. 
The front gallery was on the north side of the house, so that 
the building must have been on the south side of the road, 
and faced the north. This confirms the theory that it stood 
on Mr. Boutwell's land. There were also galleries on the 
east and west sides of the building, and the pulpit was placed 
in the south end. The window-panes were small, and prob- 
ably of diamond shape. There was, we may suppose, an 
hour-glass near the pulpit, which Goodman Allen, the sex- 



for a prof effing Teopk in Time s of great 

SECURITY AND DEGENERA CY: 
Delivered iti feveral 

SERMONS 

on Solemn Occasions: 

By Mr. Samuel fviffard Paftorof the Church of Chrife 
at Groton. 



"E«k.3.i7. SoncfMtfl) 1 have made thee awatohman to the 
JFftufVfl/ffrftl: therefore hear the Word at my mouth) ana give them 
Wtrrimg from me. 

Amos £.8. The Lord God hath J^oken, who can hut Profiefyf 

Jer.2.31. O Generation y See ye the Word ©/ the Lord: have 
Lbtcn a wfderneft'unto IfraeU a Land of darkewfi? vshsrefou fay 
my reoj>k t pre are Lvrd/ % wetyi(l come no more unto thee, 

Hag£ai. 1, $>j. Thus faith ths Lord, Confider your wayes. 



CAM<R%IT>qei 

*Prirfted by Shmuel Green, 

X 6 7 * 



mmiMi&mmkmmmmmm 

To bis'Beloved Friends thelnhahitants of 
q%PT0 3^ 

^Hatit wa/ nor a defoe to appear inpuUkkj bat to an- 
■ fwtr four re^uefiSy gave light to the ending Sermons^ 
ijo are my witneffes^ and that in the vublifhing of 
I shem y I have not endeavoured to vamifh and paint 
» tbemover witbfaurjjhes of menphafing words ; the 
fi^r%*^Jg&& thing it felf may fpea{\ inlhe wading you frail finde 
nothing Ittl what was delivered in Pre adding* Touching the occafion of 
fiemfnetdaot advertifeyou^ you may well enough caUJomtnde t the loud 
voks of fpea^inir providences, which forbad me ipfucb a day to bcfilent : 
Thsfadhaadef God wbicj was upon ikejoer. j>o(feffcd Creature^ which 
produced that 01 Ifai.2^.9. bathfaundedtbrough this Wildernefs^ but you 
werejeyg whntjjes of it ; the Lord affetfyour hearts find give you to hartt 
rigbttoujhtfs. The other.two were 'alfoMponfoJjmnJ)ccafons f tkei. hand 
vf God upm this Land y andus in particular, bids Mmifters to cry at 
loud-y tbe^Lord^God bath fpolyn, who can.htf J> raphe fie ? IJkysw mam 
corruption is.mt willing to btclofdy dealt with al z but I hope mzny ofyoa 
kAVtnotfb learned ChrifL My hearts defire and prayer for you is, that 
you may be prepared for ^aking_rimes, and the nearer they approach 
thernoie need have' we to be haltenedand ro ufed fromour loyrering* 





behlown up again in:thereading which were kindled in the preaching; 
JknowLhavebutaxvhiletohejamongjfOUyif God pleafe to ma\s me by 
thefe, or any other weakjbdeav.ours 7 to be under him in fir umentaiof your 
eternal goody I [hall dye with joy ; and fo meet you aU ax the right hand 
if our Joige in that great day, is the higheft ambitioo of 

Tour unworthy CMinijler- 



A* $, W. 



84 

tern, watched and turned when the sand had run out. There 
was no ponderous Bible on the preacher's desk, as the read- 
ing of the Scriptures formed no part of the regular worship. 
With this exception, the order of services on the Lord's day 
was about the same as it is at the present time. The prayers 
were of an almost interminable length ; and the singing, 
doubtless from the Bay Psalm Book, was done by the con- 
gregation. The only instrument used was the pitch-pipe of 
the leader, who lined off the psalms to be sung by the singers. 
What was wanting in harmony was made up by fervent 
devotion. The Groton Musical Association, I fear, would 
find much to criticise in the musical method of that day. 
However much it may have fallen short of scientific tests, 
it inspired a religious zeal, and added a pious fervor to the 
exercises. 

It was the custom in the early days of New England life 
to choose a committee " to seat the meeting-house," as it 
was called ; which meant to assign the seats to the congre- 
gation during a certain length of time. This was done every 
year or two, to meet the changes that would naturally take 
place from death or other causes. The seats consisted of 
long benches with backs, capable of accommodating six or 
eight persons. The men were placed on one side of the 
house, and the women on the other; and sometimes the 
young folks had special places given to them. Separate 
pews for families had not yet come into use. The seating 
committee was considered an important one, but their de- 
cisions were not always satisfactory. The seats in the 
Groton meeting-house, however, were allotted by the town ; 
although in the record of the meeting on November 1 1, 1667, 
there is a reference to a seating committee. Two public 
meetings, only one week apart, were held when they were 
assigned, "according to a rulle of proportion," as the ex- 
pression was at a subsequent meeting. In the second Groton 
meeting-house, built but not finished in the year 1680, the 
--cats were assigned, first, according to station or " otis " ; 
secondly, according to age: and, thirdly, wealth or " money." 
The votes at these two meetings were as follows : — 



85 

Att a Town mee[tin]g held 24 io m [1666.] 

It was agreed & by vote Declared y t all the lower seates in the 
new meeting house that now is : should be deuided six for men 
& six for women, And also the two front seats of the Gallery : 
the best prouision that the town can prouide both for the Min- 
ister and also for the people to sit upon, against the next Lords 
Day come seauenight and euery one to be placed in their places 
as they shall continue for the future 

Att a Generall Town meeting held 31 th io m 1666 fror better 
pceeding in setling seates for the women as well as for men It 
was agreed & by vote declared that the ffront Gallery on the 
north side of the meeting house should be devided in the midle ; 
and the mens that shall be placed there ; their wiues are to be 
placed by their husbands as they are below 

It appears from the following entry that Mr. Willard's 
salary was continued during another year. A part of it was 
to be paid in " country pay," according to the custom of 
that time, and the prices for the different articles of food 
seem to be fair. They are based on the silver money of that 
period, paper currency not yet having come into circulation. 

Att a generall Towns meetting held 10 th g m 1667 It was 
agreed and by vote declarded to giue vnto Mr Willard our 
pastor for his maintenance for this present yeare beginning the 
29 th 7 m should haue sixty pounds, to be paid at two payments 
the one halfe to be paid into to Kim, betwixt this and the last 
of March next : and the other half of the pay to be paid vnto 
him by the last of September next after the date hereof. And 
for quality ; the major p 1 of the Towne agreed y* one third p* 
each inhabitant shloud pay his third p* of his proportion ; in 
wheat at 5 s p bushell or porke a[t] 3 pence p pound or butter 
at 6 pence p pound fo . . . thirds in Indian corne at 3 s p 
bushelle: or other ... at the price currant as it passeth be- 
twixt . . . amongst ourseleues. 

This meeting seems to have been adjourned ; at any rate, 
another meeting was held the next day. Timothy Allen, the 
sexton, lived near to the meeting-house, which was, per- 
haps, one reason why he was chosen to the office. 



86 



Att a generall Towns meetting held II th 9 mth 1667 The towne 
agreed with Thimothy Allen to swe[ep] the meetinge house & 
to puide water ffor the babtizing of the towns children from time 
to time, for this yeare ensuing, and the s d Thimothy alien is to 
haue twenty shillings allowed him for his labor in the next 
townes rate 

At the same meettinge it was agreed that the seats in the 
meetinge should be mad in a pleaine and desent and comly 
manner, and euery seuerall company (that ar now present in- 
habitants and as they are now placed by the towne and the 
Committey formerly chosen,) they should build their seates at 
their owne charge, And all the fronteers both aboue and below, 
shall be at the charge of the laying the foundation sills for 
the seates that are behind them ; And what euer any maior p* 
of any company that are placed together in any seat shall agre 
to build their seats the minor are hereby inioyned to pay with 
their neighbors and it was further agreed that whereas the 
seates are larger than the present inhabitants do fill vp then 
when any shall placed hereafter in any seate or seates y* then 
they are hereby enioyned to pay an equall pportion to be & with 
those that haue laid down the pay for the building of the seates 

In order to keep complete the historical chain of facts, I 
make the following extracts from the town records, which 
comprise everything found there relating to the minister or 
the meeting-house, from this time to the destruction of the 
town : — 

The : 8 of the 10 moth [1668.] It was this day voted by the 
mayior part of the towne that the minist[er have] sixty hue 
pounds for this yeare beginning the twenty nine of September 
68 shall shall [sic] be Raysed the one halfe vpon the Accom- 
dations and the other halfe vpon all the visible estat of the 
towne will longley Richard blood and sum others declaring 
the Contrarie by voyt 

[1669.] 

it was voted that our pastors maintenance should be Raysed 
the one halfe vpon the Acomidations and the other halfe vpon 
the visible estat of the towne and the sum to be sixtie hue 
pounds as followeth 



87 

first to pay 30 pounds in Corne and tenn pounds in provision 
and what is wanting in provision to be payd in Corne and . . . 
tewnty fiue pounds to be payd in . . . seasonnablelye or other- 
wayes in Corne 

[December 15, 1669.] 

[At] the same meeting- were chosen [John P]age and John 
Nutting by the [town] to see that Mr Willard haue maintenance 
duely and truly payd him and that they bring the towne a gen- 
erall acquitance : 

Agreed with Timothy Allen for the keeping the meeting house 
cleane for twenty shillings and to be payd in his town charges 

At a generall towne meeting 12 of the 11 th month 1669 agreed 
vpon voted and agreed vpon that all publik charges excepting 
the ministers shold be raised vpon the accomedations till the 
towne see good to repeall it 

At a generall towne meeting Novem 1 [i]670 It is this day 
agreed vpon and voted that Mr Willards maintenance and all 
other Towne charges shalbe raised for this present yeare the 
one halfe vpon accomodations and the other halfe vpon visible 
estate 

At the same meeting agreed vpon that Mr. Willard should 
haue sixty five pound for this present yeare and a sixth pt 
shalbe payd in flesh provision that is to say in merchentable 
pork beef butter and cheese betwixt this and chrismas mer- 
chentable wheat five shill per bush barley 4s per bush rye 4s 
pease 4s and Indian cor[n] flesh meat to be payd . . . per 
pound and butter at 6 . . . 

[December 12, 1670.] 

At the same meeting agreed with Timothy Allen to keep 
the meeting housse cleane for this following year for twenty 
shill — 100. 

[February 2J, 1670-71.] 

Also agreed vpon at the same meeting that all thos seats that 
are yet to build in the meeting house shalbe built in a generall 
way also a committee chussen to treat with thomas Boydon to 
build them (viz) Sergent James Parker corporall Knop John 
Pag Ellis Barron and Nathaniell lawrance 



88 



At a Generall towne meeting held October 16 1671 This day 
agreed vpon by the towne and voted that Mr Willard shall haue 
sixty fiue for this year ensueing and that he shall hau his wholl 
yeares pay by the latter end of december and the maner of his 
pay as followeth one third p* of his pay in prouision and english 
corne and those that cannot pay in prouision and in english 
corne they are to pay their Indian corne at two shill and three 
pence the bushell soe as to answer that third p l of their pay 
which was to be payd in English corn and prouision and the rest 
of their pay they are to pay at prise currant (that is) their 
Indian corne — 3 s per bush wheat at 5 s per bush e11 — pease Rye 
barley at 4 s per bush and pork and beeffe at 3 d per pond and for 
the maner of their payment to be raised as it was the last year 
the one half vpon the accommodations and the other vpon the 
estate. 

At the same meeting were chusen Sergent william lakin and 
nathaniell lawrance and that they shall se that Air Willards pay 
shalbe brought in and faithfully payd to him according to the 
agreement of the towne 

At a Towne meeting held Sept 16 1672 It was agreed vpon 
and by vote declared that their shalbe a committee chusen by the 
towne which Committee shall haue power to seat euery man 
according to their best discretion and that euery man shall pay 
to the value of the seat they sit in the seates also beeing 
valued according to their proportion and disproportion by this 
committee chussen and the committee chussen and the names 
of the men are these 

Sergent Parker -j r j ames knop \ 

Sergent Lakin ^ and ■< > 

Tho= Tarball ) ( J ohn Morsse ) 

Att a generall Towne meeting held Octo 14 1672 It was this 
day agreed vpon and by vote declared that Mr Willard shall haue 
for this present year eighty pound and the maner of his pay as 
followeth a third part of his pay a followeth In english corne 
and prouision wheat at five shil p bushell Rye barley and pease 
at four shill pr bushell pork and beefe at 3 d p pound and all such 
as cannot pay his third part of his pay in english corn and 
prouision they shall pay In Indian corn at 2 shill p bushell 
and the remainder of his pay In Indian Corn at 3 shill p bushell 
his fire wood also above his eighty pound 



8 9 

and furder these persons here set downe doe promise and 
Ingage to git Mr Willard hay mowing making and fetching 
home for eight shilling p load at a seasonable time (viz) in the 
midle of Jully 

Sergent Parker N Timothy Allen 

Rich= Blood / Ellis Barron 

James ffiske ( , Thomas Smith 

Tho= Tarball Sef John Morsse 

sergent Lakin I Joseph gilson 

Rich= holden J Pelleg Lawrance 

At the same meeting and by vote declared that Major Willard 
shalbe a fre commoner amongst vs for feed for cattell wood and 
timber 

At a generall towne meeting held The 7 th of the 9 th month 
1672 It was this day agreed vpon and by vote declared that all 
Inhabitans in the towne shalbe seated in the meeting house ac- 
cording to a rulle of proportion impartially (by the towne or by 
a committee chussen by the towne) according to their best dis- 
cretion and the seates to be valued and each man to pay accord- 
ing to the seat they sit in and they are to place in the seats below 
in the body of the meeting house sixe persons in a seate and to 
fill vp the first and second seat first and to sit fiu persons vnder 
the window and five persons in a seat in the front gallery and 
eight persons in a seat in the east and west gallery — the per- 
sons that are first to be seated are maried persons and also such 
single persons as may and ought according to a rulle of pro- 
portion be seated with them and the other young persons to be 
seated till they have filled vp all the seates that are already 
builded and all such persons as want seates after this done they 
haue liberty granted to them by the towne at the sam meeting 
to build them themselves or their parents for them at their owne 
cost and charge in such a place or places as are thought 
most meete and convenient by the towne and those that are to 
build them and the towne haue voted to submit to the comitees 
order herein 

and the commitee chussen by the towne at the same time the 
persons are as followethe 

Sergent Parker -\ j ames Knop 

Richard Blood [ and 

Joseph Parker ) J ohn Morsse 



9 o 

At a Generall towne meeting held Nouember 13 1672 It was 
this day agreed vpon and by vote declared that the remainder of 
the pay that is still behind for the building the seates in the 
meeting house shalbe raised in a generall way notwithstanding 
all other actes done to the contrary either by towne or commitee 

William Longley seni descenting 

At a meeting of the select men no 13 72 A Towne rate made 
for the defraying of seuerall towne depts and put into the con- 
stables hand to gather (viz) 

for shuts for the windows of the meeting house 100 

At a Generall towne meeting held Janevary 13 1672 This day 
agreed vpon and by vot declared that their shalbe a commit 
chossen for to seat the persons in the meeting house according 
to their best discretion and at the sam time a commitee chosen 
and their names are thess 

Maior Willard -\ C serg ent Lakin 

Sergent Parker > and 1 

James ffiske 3 U ohn Lakin 

At a meeting of the sellect men febr 26 72 Agreed vpon by 
the sellect men that this division of land which is granted by 
the towne to the seuerall Inhabitants shalbe as followeth by 
proportion their shalbe one acre to one shill= disbursement in 
mr Willards Rat and we doe also agree that of this land that 
was prohibited shalbe only Indian hill and the hill behind 
Nath= Lawrances 

and we doe furder agree that euery Inhabitant shall haue an 
equall proportion in these lands according to disbursements in 
mr Willard rat and for the rest of their proportion shalbe else 
wheir wheir [sic] it is most convenient for them either Joyning 
to their medowes or of Oake land on this sid the Riuer 

only Mr Willard shall haue a proportion to a forty shilling 
disbursement — the town consenting here to 

At a Generall Towne meeting held no: 19 1673 This day 
agreed vpon and by vote declared that Mr Willard rat shalbe 
raised ptlv by vissible estat and partly by accommodations what- 
soeuer votes hau past formerly to the contrary as also it was 
agreed vpon that euery man hence forward shall haue their 
draughts of land according to their disbursements and those y* 



9i 

haue them not shall haue them mad vp and that he shall haue 
eighty pound for this present yeare and a fourth part of this 
payment to be payd in money and the other sixty pound to be 
payd in all sorts of graine at price currant as the court haue 
determined and in prouision — and ten pound for his firewood 
which is to be payd in by tim preffixd and if not then to pay 
their proportion in corne or prouision and also agreed vpon 
that this twenty pound in money is to be payd in to Cap* Parker 
and to Richard Blood by th last of August or the first of 
septem- next — as also henceforward he shall haue a quarter 
of his payment in money yearly 

At a Generall Town meeting held October 20 1675 Agreed 
vpon and by vote declared that our Reuerand Pastor shall 
haue eighty pound for this present year sixty 1 in Corne and 
prwisi[ons] forty pound of it to be payd betwixt this and y e 
twenty fiue of December next ensueing and the other 20I to be 
payd in the spring of the yeare vnlesse god by some speciall 
prouidence Doe preuent and the other 20I to be payd in money 
the last of august or the first of September in the year 1676 

and 40 cord of wood to be proportioned according to euery 
mans proportion to be caryed in now pressently 

At a Generall Towne meeting held no= 8 1675 It was this 
day agreed vpon and by vote declared that their should be a 
committe chussen to treat with Mr willard about sending down 
to the generall court to Enforme and supplicat to them that we 
may haue payd to vs what is our due from the countrey and 
also that the Billit of the souldiers may be vpon the countreys 
account and also agreed vpon that if this would not doe for to 
stand it out at law with them 

and the commitee chussen was Cap* Parker Leiftenant Lakin 
William Longley seni= John Page 

Nearly one-and-twenty years had passed since the little 
settlement in the wilderness was begun, and it was fast 
approaching its majority. The new town had enjoyed a 
moderate share of prosperity, and was slowly working out its 
destiny. The founders were poor in this world's goods, but 
rich in faith and courage. They had now tasted the hard- 
ships of frontier life, but not as yet felt the horrors of savage 
warfare. The distant thunders of a threatening storm were 



9 2 

beginning to be heard, and the occasional flashes put the 
early settlers on their guard. Philip's War had broken out, 
and the outlying settlements were exposed to new dangers. 
The inhabitants of this town took such precautions as seemed 
needful, and trusted in Providence for the rest. They were 
just beginning to prepare for the work of another season, 
when a small band of prowling Indians alarmed the town 
by pillaging eight or nine houses and driving off some cattle. 
This occurred on March 2, 1676, and probably was a suffi- 
cient warning to send the inhabitants to the garrison-houses, 
whither they were wont to flee in time of danger. These 
places of refuge were usually houses surrounded by a strong 
wall of stone or timber built up as high as the eaves, with a 
gate-way, and port-holes for the use of musketry. 

In Groton there were five such garrison-houses, and under 
their protection many a sleepless, anxious night was passed 
by the inmates. Four of these houses were very near each 
other, and the fifth was nearly a mile away. The sites of 
some of them are well known. One was Mr. YYillard's 
house, which stood near the site of the High School; an- 
other was Captain Parker's house, which stood just north 
of the hall in which we are now assembled; and a third was 
John Nutting's house, on the other side of James's Brook. 
The fourth was probably north of John Nutting's, but per- 
haps south of Mr. Willard's. There is a tradition that one 
stood near the house formerly owned and occupied by the 
late Eber Woods, which would make the fifth garrison-house 
" near a mile distant from the rest." 

It is recorded in the inventory of his estate, on file in the 
Middlesex Probate Office at East Cambridge, that Timothy 
< !ooper,* of Groton, was " Sleine by the Indeins the Second 
day of march 1675-6." Cooper was an Englishman by 
birth, and lived, probably, somewhere between the present 
site of the Baptist 'meeting-house and the beginning of 
Farmers' Row. It is not known that there was other loss of 

* John Cooper, of Weston Hall, England, in his will, written November 21, 
1654, .iihI proved the next year, mentions his "brother Timothy Cooper now in 
New Kngland," with children. The will is on file in the Registry of Probate, 
London. 



93 

life at this time; but the affair was serious enough to alarm 
the inhabitants. They sought refuge immediately in the 
garrison-houses, as the Indians were lurking in the neighbor- 
hood. On March 9, the savages again threatened the be- 
leaguered town, and, by a cunningly contrived ambush, man- 
aged to entrap four men at work, of whom one was killed 
and one captured, while the other two escaped. This second 
assault must have produced great alarm and consternation 
among the people of the town. The final and principal at- 
tack, however, came on the 13th, when the enemy appeared 
in full body, thought to be not less than four hundred in 
number. The inhabitants at this time all were gathered into 
the several garrison-houses for protection. During the pre- 
vious night the savages scattered throughout the town, and 
the first volley of shot on the morning of the 13th was the 
signal for the general burning of the town ; and in this con- 
flagration the first meeting-house of Groton was destroyed. 
With its thatched roof it must have burned quickly. In a 
very short time nothing was left but a heap of smoking em- 
bers. Although it had never been formally dedicated to 
religious worship, it had been consecrated in spirit to the 
service of God by the prayers of the minister and the devo- 
tion of the congregation. In this assault John Nutting's 
garrison was taken by stratagem. The men defending it 
had been drawn out by two Indians apparently alone, when 
the savages in ambush arose, and killed one of the men, 
probably John Nutting himself, and wounded three others. 
At the same time the garrison-house, now defenceless, was 
attacked in the rear and the palisades pulled down, allowing 
the enemy to take possession. The women and children, 
comprising those of five families, escaped to Captain Parker's 
house, situated just this side of the brook and north of this 
building. 

There is a tradition, which is entitled to credence, that 
John Nutting was killed while defending his log-house fort 
during Philip's War. His wife's name appears a few months 
later in the Woburn town records as " Widow Nutting," 
which is confirmatory of the tradition. 



94 

The Indians were a cowardly set, and never attacked in 
open field. They never charged on works in regular column, 
but depended rather on craft or cunning to defeat their ad- 
versary. The red " hellhounds " — as they were sometimes 
called by our pious forefathers — were always ready to 
attack women and children, but afraid to meet men. The 
inhabitants of the town were now safely and securely housed, 
and were masters of the situation. The enemy could do little 
more than to taunt and jeer them from time to time with 
insulting remarks. The main body of the savages passed 
the following night in " an adjacent valley," which cannot 
now be identified, but some of them lodged in the garrison- 
house which they had taken ; and the next morning, after 
firing two or three volleys at Captain Parker's house, they 
departed. They carried off a prisoner, — John Morse, the 
town-clerk, — who was ransomed a short time afterward. 
The following reference to him in an undated letter, written 
by the Reverend Thomas Cobbet to the Reverend Increase 
Mather, shows very nearly the time of his release : — 

May y e 12th Good wife Diuens and Good wife Ketle vpon 
ransom paid, came into concord. & vpon like ransom presently 
[a]fter John Moss of Groton & leiftenant Carlors Daughter of 
Lancaster, were set at liberty & 9 more wtout ransom : ( Mather 
Manuscripts in the Prince Collection, at the Boston Public 
Library, i. 76.) 

The ransom for John Morse was paid by John Hubbard, 
of Boston, and amounted to " about five pounds." Morse's 
petition to the Council to have Hubbard reimbursed is found 
in the Archives (lxix. 48) at the State House. 

The population of Groton at the time of its destruction 
was about three hundred inhabitants. The Reverend Wil- 
liam Hubbard, in his Narrative, printed in the year 1677, 
estimates the number of families at sixty, and five persons 
to a family may be considered a fair average. The same 
authority says that there were forty dwelling-houses, besides 
other buildings, burned in this assault, and only fourteen or 
fifteen houses left standing. 



95 

Fortunately the loss of life or limb on the part of the 
inhabitants of the town was small, and it is not known that 
more than three persons were killed — of whom one was 
Timothy Cooper, and another, without doubt, John Nutting 
— and three wounded ; two were made prisoners, of whom 
one escaped from the savages and reached Lancaster, and 
the other, John Morse, was ransomed. 

The lot of these early settlers was, indeed, hard and bitter ; 
they had seen their houses destroyed and their cattle killed, 
leaving them nothing to live on. Their alternative now was 
to abandon the plantation, which they did with much sadness 
and sorrow. The settlement was broken up, and the inhab- 
itants scattered in different directions among their friends 
and kindred. During the next autumn John Monaco, — or 
one-eyed John, as he was sometimes called, — the chief 
leader in the assault, was brought to the gallows in Boston, 
where he suffered the extreme penalty of the law. 

In the early spring of 1678, just two years after the 
attack, the old settlers returned to re-establish the town. Un- 
daunted by their bitter experience, they came back to begin 
life anew in the wilderness, with all its attendant hardships. 
It does not appear that the inhabitants were molested by the 
Indians during this period to any great degree, but they were 
by no means leading lives of ease or security. At times 
troops were stationed here by the Colonial authorities for 
the protection of the town; and the orders and counter- 
orders to the small garrison tell too well that danger was 
threatening. In the mean while King William's War broke 
out ; and this time the enemy had material and sympathetic 
aid from the French in Canada. The second attack on the 
town came in the summer of 1694, and the accounts of it 
I prefer to give in the words of contemporaneous writers. 
Sometimes there are discrepancies in such accounts ; but, as 
a whole, they constitute the best authority. 

Cotton Mather, in his Magnalia, thus refers to it : — 

Nor did the Storm go over so : Some Drops of it fell upon 
the Town of Grot on, a Town that lay, one would think, far 
enough off the Place where was the last Scene of the Tragedy. 



9 6 

On July 27. [1694,] about break of Day Groton felt some 
surprizing Blows from the Indian Hatchets. They began their 
Attacks at the House of one Lieutenant Lakin, in the Out-skirts 
of the Town; but met with a Repulse there, and lost one of 
their Crew. Nevertheless, in other Parts of that Plantation, 
(where the good People had been so tired out as to lay down 
their Military Watch) there were more than Twenty Persons 
killed, and more than a Dozen carried away. Mr. Gershom 
Hob art, the Minister of the Place, with part of his Family, was 
Remarkably preserved from falling into their Hands, when they 
made themselves the Masters of his House ; though they Took 
Two of his Children, whereof the one was Killed, and the other 
some time after happily Rescued out of his Captivity. (Book 
vii. page 86.) 

Charlevoix, a French missionary in Canada, gives from 
his own standpoint another version, as follows : — 

The Abenaqui chief was Taxous, already celebrated for many 
exploits, and commendable attachment to our interests. This 
brave man, not satisfied with what he had just so valiantly 
achieved, chose forty of his most active men, and, after three 
days' march, by making a long circuit, arrived at the foot of a 
fort [at Groton] near Boston, and attacked it in broad day. 
The English made a better defence than they did at Pescadoue 
[Piscataqua]. Taxous had two of his nephews killed by his 
side, and himself received more than a dozen musket balls in 
his clothes, but he at last carried the place, and then continued 
his ravages to the very doors of the capital. (" History of New 
France," iv. 257, Shea's edition.) 

The following reference to the assault is found in the 
report, made October 26, 1694, by M. Champigny to the 
Minister Pontchartrain. The original document is in the 
Archives of the Marine and Colonies at Paris ; and I am 
indebted to Mr. Parkman, the distinguished historian, for 
a copy of it. 

These Indians did not stop there ; four parties of them have 
since been detached, who have been within half a day's journey 
of Boston [i.e., at Groton], where they have killed or cap- 
tured more than sixty persons, ravaged and pillaged every thing 



97 

they found, which has thrown all the people into such conster- 
nation that they are leaving the open country to seek refuge in 
the towns. 



A " Relation " of an expedition by Villieu also mentions 
the assault. A copy of the paper is found among the Ar- 
chives at the State House, in the volume marked " Docu- 
ments collected in France" (iv. 260, 261). The writer 
gives the date of the attack some days later than is usually 
assigned. He says : — 

On the 30, the Indians of the Penobscot, not having taken as 
many prisoners and as much booty as those of the Kennebec, 
because they had not found enough to employ themselves ; at 
the solicitation of Villieu and Taxous, their chief, some fifty of 
them detached themselves to follow this last person, who was 
piqued at the little that had been done. They were joined by 
some of the bravest warriors of the Kennebec, to go on a war 
party above Boston to break heads by surprise (casser dcs tctes 
a la surprise), after dividing themselves into several squads of 
four or five each, which cannot fail of producing a good effect 

Judge Sewall, in his Diary, printed in the Massachusetts 
Historical Collections (fifth series, v. 391), writes: — 

Friday, July 27. Groton set upon by the Indians, 21 persons 
kill'd, 13 captivated, 13 badly wounded. About 9. night, Air. 
Lodowick comes to Boston. Between 10. and 11. there is an 
Alarm through the Town kept up till near day-break. Mr. 
Brattle was arriv'd at Col. Shrimpton's, then he told me of 
Mr. Lodowick's unhappiness in coming just then. During the 
Alarm, Mr. Willard's little daughter Sarah dies, buried on 
Sabbath-day a little before Sunset. 

The Reverend John Pike makes the following reference 
to the assault, in his Journal, printed in the Proceedings of 
the same Society, for September, 1875: — 

July 2y. The enemy fell upon Groton ab* day-break, killed 
22 persons & Captivated 13 (xiv. 128). 

'3 



9 8 

Governor Hutchinson, in his " History of the Province 
of Massachusetts Bay," published during the following cen- 
tury, writes : — 

Having crossed Merrimack, on the 27th of July [1694,] they 
fell upon Groton, about 40 miles from Boston. They were re- 
pulsed at Lakin's garrison house, but fell upon other houses, 
where the people were off their guard, and killed and carried 
away from the vicinity about forty persons. Toxus's two 
nephews were killed by his side, and he had a dozen bullets 
through his blanket, according to Charlevoix, who adds, that 
he carried the fort or garrison and then went to make spoil at 
the gates of Boston ; in both which facts the French account is 
erroneous (ii. 82). 

In this assault the loss on the part of the inhabitants was 
considerably greater than when the town was destroyed in 
the former attack. It is said that the scalps of the unfortu- 
nate victims were given to Count de Frontenac, Governor of 
Canada. It is too late now to give the names of all the 
sufferers, but a few facts in regard to them may be gathered 
from fragmentary sources. The families that suffered the 
worst lived for the most part in the same general neighbor- 
hood, which was near the site of the first meeting-house. 
Lieutenant William Lakin's house, where the fight began, 
was situated in the vicinity of Chicopee Row. 

The following list of casualties, in part conjectural, is 
given as an approximation of the loss sustained by the 
town : — 

Killed Captured 

John Longley's family 7 3 

Rev. Mr. Hobart's " 1 1 

John Shepley's 4? 1 

James Parker, Jr.'s " 2 3? 

Alexander Rouse's " 2? 1 

Mr. Gershom Hobart, the minister, whose house was cap- 
tured in this assault, lived where the Baptist meeting-house 
now stands. One of his boys was killed, and another, Ger- 
shom, Jr., was carried off. There is a tradition extant that 



99 

a third child was concealed under a tub in the cellar, and thus 
saved from the savages. Judge Sewall writes in his Diary, 
under the date of May i, 1695, that — 

Mr. Hobarts son Gershom is well at a new Fort a days 
Journey above Nerigawag [Norridgewock], Masters name is 
Nassacombewit, a good Master, and Mistress. Master is chief 
Captain, now Bambazeen is absent. 

It is not known exactly when he was rescued from cap- 
tivity, but probably not long afterwards. The inscription 
on the Shepley monument says that " the Indians massacred 
all the Sheples in Groton save a John Sheple 16 years old 
who the carried captive to Canada and kept him 4 years, 
after which he returned to Groton and from him descended 
all the Sheples or Shepleys in this Vicinity," but there is no 
record to show how many there were in this family. Mr. 
Butler, in his History (p. 97), makes the same statement, 
but does not mention any number. In this list it is placed at 
five, which is conjectural. Shepley lived near where the 
Martin's Pond road starts off from the North Common. 
The knowledge which the boy John obtained of their lan- 
guage and customs while a prisoner among the Indians was 
of much use to him in after-life. Tradition relates that, 
when buying furs and skins of them, he used to put his foot 
in one scale of the balance instead of a pound weight. In 
the summer of 1704, while he and thirteen other men were 
reaping in a field at Groton, they were attacked by about 
twenty Indians. After some skirmishing, Shepley and one 
of his comrades, Butterfield by name, succeeded in killing 
one of the assailants, for which act they each were allowed 
four pounds by the Government. He was the direct ances- 
tor of the late Honorable Ether Shepley, formerly Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Maine, and of 
the late General George F. Shepley, formerly a Justice of the 
Circuit Court of the First Circuit of the United States. 

A petition to the General Court, dated May 31, 1699, and 
signed by Josiah Parker, says that " James Parker Jun r 
Brother to yo r humble Pet? r was Killed with his Wife, sev- 



100 



eral of his Children also were then carryed away Captive." 
The number of these children is put at three, which is also 
conjectural. The site of Parker's house is unknown. The 
late Reverend James D. Farnsworth, in a manuscript ac- 
count of William Longley, now in the library of the New 
England Historic, Genealogical Society, says that " two of 
his neighbors named Rouse " were killed in the same mas- 
sacre. Alexander Rouse lived in the neighborhood, and 
this reference is to his family. There was one " Tamasin 
Rouce of Grotten " received January 17, 1698-99, on board 
the "Province Galley" at Casco Bay; and she, doubtless, 
was a daughter of Alexander. (Archives, lxx. 399.) Two 
commissioners had been sent to Casco Bay, to make a treaty 
of peace with the Indians, and to bring away the captives. 
One of the commissioners " took certain Minutes of Re- 
markable Tilings from some of the Captives," and Cotton 
Mather, in his Magnalia, gives his readers what he calls 
" a Taste of them." Mather speaks of the little girl, and 
says that — 

Assacombuit sent Thomasin Rouse, a child of about Ten 
Years old, unto the Water-side to carry something. The Child 
cried : He took a Stick and struck her down : She lay for Dead : 
He took her up and threw her into the Water : Some Indians 
not far off ran in and fetch'd her out. The Child we have now 
brought Home with us. (Book vii. page 95.) 

Among the " Nams of thos Remaining Still in hands of 
the french at Canada," found in a document at the State 
House, are those of " Lidey Langly D°[Douer] gerl " and 
" Jn° Shiply boy oy r River." In this list the residences of 
both these children are incorrectly written, Lydia's being 
given as Dover, New Hampshire, and John's, as Oyster 
River. The name of Thomas Drew appears in the same list 
as of Groton, which is a mistake, as he was of Oyster River. 
(Massachusetts Archives, xxxviii. A 2.) 

This expedition against Groton was planned in part by 
the Indians at a fort called Amsaquonte above Norridgwock, 
in Maine. It was arranged in the plan of operations that 
also Oyster River — now Durham, New Hampshire — 



101 



should be attacked on the way ; and the assault on that town 
was made July 18, nine days before the one on Groton. At 
Oyster River more than ninety persons were either killed or 
captured ; the prisoners from the two towns appear to have 
been taken to Maine, where they were thrown considerably 
together during their captivity. Governor William Stough- 
ton issued a proclamation, January 21, 1695, wherein he 
refers to the " tragical outrages and barberous murders " at 
Oyster River and Groton. He says that several of the pris- 
oners taken at these places " are now detained by the said 
Indians at Amarascoggin and other adjoining places." 
(Documents relating to the Colonial History of New York, 
ix. 613, 614.) 

Hezekiah Miles, alias Hector, a friendly Indian, at one 
time a prisoner in the enemy's hands, made a deposition 
before the Lieutenant-Governor and Council, at Boston, 
May 31, 1695, stating — 

that in the month of July 1694. there was a gathering of the 
Indians at the said new Fort [Amsaquonte] and preparations 
to go forth to war, and that two or three days before they in- 
tended to set out, they kild and boyld several dogs, and held a 
Feast, where was present Egeremet, Bomaseen, Warumbee, & 
Ahasombamet with divers others, of the chief among them, they 
discoursed of falling upon Oyster River and Groton ; and Boma- 
seen was to command one of the Companys & the day before 
they intended to set forth, myself with ffour Indians more were 
dispatched away to Canada with a Letter from the Fryar and 
were upon our Voyage thither and back again about ffourt? 
days and brought down about two barrels of powder, shot pro- 
portionable & some fire armes. About the time of our return, 
the Indians came in after the mischief done at Oyster River & 
Groton, and in particular, I saw Bomaseen in his Canoo, which 
was well laden, there was two English Captives, some scalps, 
and a large pack of Plunder brought in that Canoo, and Boma- 
seen two or three days after his return home went away to 
Canada. (Archives, viii. 39.) 

Ann Jenkins, in a deposition given June 11, 1695, testifies 
that she was captured July 18, 1694, at Oyster River, and 
that she — 



102 



with nine Captiues more were Carried up to penecook & were 
Left with Three Indians & that party went to Groaten Boma- 
zeen being their Commander In nine dayes they returned & 
brought twelue Captiues & from thence with their Cannoes 
sometimes a float & sometimes Carried untill that we Came to 
Norridgeawocke which tooke us fifteen dayes & staied about 
two months there then dispersed into the woods twoe or thre 
families in a place & kept Removeing toe and froe staieing 
about a week in a place untill they brought vss down to pema- 
quid & delivered vss to Capt March. (Archives, viii. 40.) 

I come now to the sad story of the Longley family, which 
is commemorated by one of the monuments dedicated to- 
day. William and Deliverance Longley were living, with 
their eight children, on a small farm perhaps a mile and a 
quarter from this hall, on the east side of the Hollis road. 
Their house was built of hewn logs, and was standing at the 
beginning of the present century. The old cellar, with its 
well-laid walls, was distinctly visible forty years ago, and 
traces of it could be seen even to the present time. On the 
fatal morning of July 2j, 1694, the massacre of this family 
was committed. The savages appeared suddenly, coming 
from the other side of the Merrimack River, and began the 
attack at Lieutenant William Lakin's house, where they were 
repulsed with the loss of one of their number. They fol- 
lowed it up by assaulting other houses in the same neighbor- 
hood. They made quick work of it, and left the town as 
speedily as they came. With the exception of John Shep- 
ley's house, it is not known that they destroyed any of the 
buildings; but they pillaged them before they departed. 
They carried off thirteen prisoners, mostly children, who 
must have retarded their march. There is a tradition that 
early in the morning of the attack the Indians turned Long- 
ley's cattle out of the barn-yard into the corn-field, and then 
lay in ambush. The stratagem had the desired effect : Long- 
ley rushed out of the house, unarmed, in order to drive the 
cattle back, when he was murdered, and all his family either 
killed or captured. The bodies of the slain were buried in 
one grave a few rods northwest of the house. A small apple- 



103 

tree growing over the spot, and a stone lying even with the 
ground, for many years furnished the only clew to the final 
resting-place of this unfortunate family, but these have now 
disappeared. 

William Longley was town-clerk in the year 1687, and 
also from 1692 till his death in 1694; and, only one week 
before he was killed, he had made entries in the town rec- 
ords. His father, William Longley, Sen., had also been 
town-clerk during the years 1666 and 1667, and died on 
November 29, 1680. The father was one of the earliest 
settlers of the town, as well as the owner of a thirty-acre 
right in the original Groton plantation. Lydia, John, and 
Betty were the names of the three children carried off by the 
savages, and taken to Canada. Lydia was sold to the 
French, and placed in the Congregation of Notre Dame, a 
convent in Montreal, where she embraced the Roman Cath- 
olic faith, and died on July 20, 1758, at the advanced age of 
eighty-four years. Betty died soon after her capture, from 
hunger and exposure; and John, the third child, remained 
with the savages for more than four years, when he was 
ransomed and brought away, much against his own will. 
At one time during his captivity he was on the verge of 
starving, when an Indian kindly gave him a dog's foot to 
gnaw, which for the time appeased his hunger. He was 
known among his captors as John Augary. After he came 
home, his sister Lydia wrote from Canada, urging him to 
abjure the Protestant religion; but he remained true to his 
early faith. 

Their grandmother, the widow of Benjamin Crispe, made 
her will, April 13, 1698, which was admitted to probate on 
the 28th of the following December; and in it she remem- 
bered these absent children as follows : — 

I give and bequeath Vnto my three Grand-Children y* are in 
Captivity if they returne Vizdt three books one of y m a bible 
another a Sermon booke treating of faith and the other a psalme 
book. 

The old lady herself certainly had read the " Sermon 
booke treating of faith," and it must have been to her a 



104 

great consolation in her trials. Fortunately for her own 
peace of mind she never knew that her grand-daughter had 
embraced the Roman Catholic faith. The knowledge of this 
fact would have been to her an affliction scarcely less than 
the massacre of her daughter's family. 

John Longley returned about the time that his grand- 
mother died. The following paper signed by him is found 
among the Knox manuscripts, now in the possession of the 
New England Historic Genealogical Society : — 

John Longley of Groton of about fifty four Years of age 
Testifyes & Saith That he was Taken Captive by the Indians 
at Groton in July 1694. and Lived in Captivity with them More 
than four Years; And the Two Last years and an half at Pe- 
nobscot as Servant to Madocawando of S"? Panobscot And he 
was always Accounted as Chief or One of y? Chief Sachems or 
Captains among the Indians there and I have Often Seen the 
Indians Sitting in Council Where he always Sat as Chief : And 
Once in perticuler I Observed a present was made him of a 
Considerable Number of Skins of Considerable Vallue As an 
Acknowledment of his Superiority. 

John Longley 

Midd? SS. Groton July 24 th 1736. 

Deacon John Longley above named personally appearing 
Made Oath To y? Truth of the above written Testimony. 
Before me Benj? Prescott Jus* of peace 

(Knox Manuscripts, Waldo Papers, L. 13.) 

In the month of July, 1877, I was m Montreal, where I 
procured, through the kindness of the Mother Superior at 
the Congregation of Notre Dame, a copy of the record of 
Lydia's baptism, of which the following is a translation : — 

On Tuesday, April 24, 1696, the ceremony of baptism was 
performed on an English girl, named Lydia Longley, who was 
born April 14, 1674, at Groton, a few miles from Boston in New 
England. She was the daughter of William Longley and De- 
liverance Crisp, both Protestants. She was captured in the 
month of July, 1694, by the Abenaqui Indians, and has lived 
for the past month in the house of the Sisters of the Congrega- 



io5 

tion of Notre Dame. The godfather was M. Jacques Le Ber, 
merchant ; the godmother was Madame Marie Madeleine Du- 
pont, wife of M. de Maricourt, Ecuyer, Captain of a company 
of Marines : she named this English girl Lydia Madeleine 

[Signed] Lydia Madeleine Longley, 

Madeleine Dupont, 
Le Ber, 
M. Caille, acting curate. 

I now pass over the period of one generation, leaving be- 
hind Indian attacks and massacres, and approach a subject 
with pleasanter associations. 

One day near the close of winter, in a house at the other 
end of the street, there was considerable commotion and 
excitement when the announcement was made that "it's a 
boy." It was in the family of Benjamin and Abigail 
(Oliver) Prescott, and it was on the 20th of February, 1726, 
according to the old style of reckoning. In due course of 
time the baby was christened William, and his earliest expe- 
riences, we may venture to say, were much like those of 
other little ones. Of course all the women and children in 
the neighborhood came in to see the young pilgrim, and 
pinched his nose and punched his cheeks to their hearts' 
content. He came of a sturdy stock, and his family name at 
that time was the most distinguished one in the annals of 
Groton. 

Jonas, the progenitor, was the son of John and Mary 
(Platts) Prescott, and was born at Lancaster, in June, 1648. 
He was a blacksmith by trade, and owned the mill in the 
south part of Groton, now within the limits of Harvard. 
It is said that a grant of land made by the town, about the 
year 1675, when it was much in need of a blacksmith, in- 
duced him to remove nearer to the village. He built a 
house and shop on the lot, which was situated on the easterly 
side of James's Brook, perhaps a third of a mile south of 
Lawrence Academy. He bought lands, until he became 
one of the largest owners of real estate in the town. 

Jonas married, December 14, 1672, Mary, daughter of 
John and Mary (Draper) Loker, of Sudbury, and they had 

14 



io6 



four sons and eight daughters. Two of the sons died 
young; but all the other children lived to grow up and 
have families. The eight daughters, with one exception, 
married Groton men, and were blessed with a numerous off- 
spring. Jonas filled many important positions in the town, 
and represented it in the General Court during the years 
1699 and 1705 ; he died on December 31, 1723, aged seventy- 
five years. 

His youngest son, Benjamin, was a man of strong char- 
acter and commanding appearance; and, like his father, 
filled many places of usefulness. He was married on June 
11, 1718, to Abigail, daughter of the Honorable Thomas and 
Mary (Wilson) Oliver, of Cambridge; and they had three 
sons and four daughters. He lived near the old homestead, 
having built a house a little easterly of his father's, where 
he died on August 3, 1735, at the age of forty-two years, 
after a short illness caused by over-exertion while haying. 
His three sons were all remarkable men, and exerted much 
influence in shaping public affairs during an important 
period. 

William, the second son of Benjamin, settled on a large 
estate owned by his father, in that part of Groton, now in- 
cluded in Pepperell, which lies near the State line. He was 
a lieutenant in the expedition sent in the year 1755 to re- 
move the French Neutrals from Nova Scotia, and a colonel 
of Minute Men enrolled in this neighborhood in 1774. As 
commander of the American forces at the Battle of Bunker 
Hill, June 17, 1775, his name will never be forgotten. In 
later years, at various times he filled the offices of town- 
clerk, selectman, and representative in the General Court. 
He was the father of William Prescott, the lawyer and 
jurist, and the grandfather of William Hickling Prescott, 
the distinguished historian. He died on October 13, 1795, 
aged sixty-nine years, and was buried at Pepperell; his 
widow died <>n October 21, 1821, at the advanced age of 
eighty-eight years. 

In modern times certain captious critics have tried to 
deprive Colonel Prescott of the distinction of commanding 



107 

the American forces at Bunker Hill. They never would 
have attempted this act of injustice when the old hero was 
alive; for then he had too many soldiers who had fought 
under him, and had heard him giving orders on that event- 
ful day, to allow the fact to be disputed. It was the uni- 
versal testimony of all his military comrades, as I believe 
it will be of impartial history, that the commandership of 
that battle belongs to him. The circumstances surrounding 
the army at the beginning of the Revolution were such that 
there may have been but little formality in assigning a com- 
mand; but there is no evidence that Prescott received an 
order from any officer on that memorable field, while he 
himself acted under orders from General Ward. 

Besides the three spots marked by the monuments dedi- 
cated to-day, there are other places in this town that might 
well be designated in a special manner; and I trust that 
the time is not far distant when they also shall have their 
commemorative stones. 

The site of the second meeting-house, near the Chaplin 
school-house, is one of these places. 

Another spot well deserving to be marked with a memo- 
rial stone is the place from which Sarah, John, and Zecha- 
riah Tarbell were carried off by the Indians, on June 20, 
1707. They were children of Thomas and Elizabeth 
(Wood) Tarbell, who had a large family, and lived on 
Farmers' Row, near Mr. James Lawrence's house. Sarah 
was a girl thirteen years of age, John a lad of eleven years, 
and Zechariah only seven at the time when they were taken 
by the savages. They were near kindred of the Longley 
family, who had been massacred thirteen years before. 

The story of their capture and captivity is a singular one, 
and sounds like a romance. They were picking cherries 
early one evening, — so tradition relates, — and were taken 
by the Indians before they had time to get down from the 
tree. It should be borne in mind that the date of capture, 
according to the new style of reckoning, was July 1, when 
cherries would be ripe enough to tempt the appetite of youth- 
ful climbers. These children were carried to Canada, where, 



io8 



it would seem, they were treated kindly, as no inducement 
afterward was strong enough to make them return to their 
old home. The girl, Sarah, was sold to the French, and 
placed in a convent at Lachine, near Montreal ; but what 
became of her subsequently I am unable to state. 

Thomas Tarbell, the father of these children, made his 
will September 26, 171 5, which was admitted to probate six 
weeks later. After making certain bequests to different 
members of his family, he says : — 

all the rest & residue of my Reall Estate I give to be Equally 
divided between my three children, John, Zachery, & Sarah 
Tarbell, upon their return from Captivity, or In Proportion 
unto any of them that shall return, & the rest, or the parts be- 
longing to them that do not return, shall be Equally divided 
among the rest of my children. 

In the summer of 1877 I visited Montreal, as I have be- 
fore mentioned, where I procured, through the kindness of 
the Mother Superior at the Congregation of Notre Dame, 
the record of Sarah's baptism, of which the following is a 
translation : — 

On Monday, July 23, 1708, the ceremony of baptism was per- 
formed on Sarah Tarbell, who was born at Groton in New 
England, October 9, 1693. Her parents were Thomas Tarbell 
and Elizabeth Wood, both Protestants, and she was baptized 
by the minister shortly after her birth. Having been taken by 
the savages on Monday, June 20, 1707, she was brought to 
Canada ; she has since been sold, and has lived with the Sisters 
of the Congregation of Notre Dame, established at Lachine, 
where she abjured her religion on May 1. Her godfather was 
M. Jacques Urbain Robert de Lamorandiere, Secretary of 
M. lTntendant; and her godmother was Madame Marguerite 
Bonat, wife of M. Etienne Pascaud, the deputy treasurer of 
the King in this country. 

Her name Sarah has been changed to Marguerite. 

[Signed] M; n: Bonat, 

Pascaud, 
lamorandiere, 
Meriel, Pretre, 



109 

The boys remained with their captors at Caughnawaga, 
an Indian village on the right bank of the St. Lawrence 
River, directly opposite to Lachine; and subsequently mar- 
ried squaws, and became chiefs of the tribe. Nothing fur- 
ther in regard to them is learned until April 20, 1739, when 
their case was brought before the Council and House of 
Representatives, in Boston. At this time Governor Belcher 
made a speech, in which he said that — 

There are lately come from Canada some Persons that were 
taken by the Indians from Groton above thirty Years ago, who 
(its believed) may be induced to return into this Province, on 
your giving them some proper Encouragement : If this Matter 
might be effected, I should think it would be not only an Act 
of Compassion in order to release them from the Errors and 
Delusions of the Romish Faith ; but their living among us 
might, in Time to come, be of great Advantage to the Province. 

The matter was referred to a committee, but no definite 
result was reached. Nearly forty years after their capture, 
Governor Hutchinson met them in the State of New York, 
and, in his " History of the Province of Massachusetts Bay," 
refers to them thus : — 

I saw at Albany two or three men, in the year 1744, who 
came in with the Indians to trade, and who had been taken at 
Groton in this, that is called Queen Ann's war. One of them 

Tarbell, was said to be one of the wealthiest of the Cag- 

nawaga tribe. He made a visit in his Indian dress and with 
his Indian complexion (for by means of grease and paints but 
little difference could be discerned) to his relations at Groton, 
but had no inclination to remain there (ii. 139). 

Some years after this time these two boys — now grown 
up to manhood, and occupying the position of chiefs — 
moved up the St. Lawrence River, accompanied by several 
others, all with their families, and established the village 
of St. Regis. 

Many interesting facts in regard to these Tarbell brothers 
may be found in Dr. Franklin B. Hough's " History of St. 
Lawrence and Franklin Counties, New York," published at 



no 



Albany, in the year 1853. St. Regis is pleasantly situated 
on the right bank of the St. Lawrence River, the boundary 
line separating the State of New York from Canada running 
through it. A part of the village comes within the limits 
of Franklin County ; and Dr. Hough has gathered some of 
the traditions in regard to them still extant in that neighbor- 
hood. From the peculiar position of St. Regis, it was agreed, 
during the last war with England, that the Indians should 
remain neutral, though the agreement was often broken. In 
the summer of 1852 the tribe numbered about eleven hun- 
dred persons, of whom it is said that not one was of pure 
Indian origin. 

In former years the St. Regis Indians had certain rights 
in a land reservation in the State of New York ; and more 
than once treaties were made between the governor of the 
State and the chiefs of the tribe, among whom were de- 
scendants of these Tarbell boys. A treaty was signed on 
February 20, 18 18, in behalf of the Indians, by Loran Tar- 
bell and Thomas Tarbell. and two other chiefs. Another 
treaty was signed on September 23, 1825, by eleven chiefs 
and trustees of the tribe, including Peter Tarbell, Thomas 
Tarbell, Mitchel Tarbell, Louis Tarbell, and Battice Tarbell. 
Some of these names, I am sure, will sound familiar to the 
older ones in this audience. It is very likely that Battice is 
the same as Sabattis, an Indian name, which is said to be a 
corruption of Saint Baptiste. 

Dr. Hough writes about one of the earlier members of 
the family as follows : — 

A half-breed Indian, who usually was known as Peter the 
Big Speak, was a son of Lesor Tarbell, one of the lads who had 
been stolen away from Groton by the Indians, and who subse- 
quently became one of the first settlers who preceded the found- 
ing of St. Regis. 

1 [e was a man of much address and ability as a speaker, and 
was selected as the mouthpiece of the tribe on the more impor- 
tant occasions that presented themselves (p. 182). 

Dr. Hough is wrong when he savs that Lesor was the 
name of one of the captured boys. It is perfectly well 



Ill 



known that their names were John and Zechariah, but it is 
not improbable that one of their sons was named Lesor. If 
this was the case, it was intended, doubtless, for Eleazer, 
the name of their youngest brother, who was less than two 
months old when they were carried off. It certainly would 
be a very touching tribute to their childish recollections that 
they should have remembered this little babe at home, and 
carried him in their thoughts for so many years. 

In the year 1772 the Reverend Mr. Ripley and Lieutenant 
Taylor went on a mission to Canada, in order to induce some 
Indian children to join the Charity School at Hanover, New 
Hampshire. They returned September 21, bringing with 
them eight boys from Caughnawaga, and two from Lorette, 
a village near Quebec. Among these lads was a descend- 
ant of one of the Groton Tarbells. (A Continuation of 
the Narrative of the Indian Charity School, by Eleazer 
Wheelock, D.D., 1773, pp. 39, 40.) 

A Frenchman, of the name of Fovel, visited St. Regis in 
the year 1826, and induced one of the Tarbell family, whose 
Indian name was Joseph Torakaron, to accompany him to 
Europe. Torakaron was to travel in the character of an 
Indian chief, and Fovel was to act as interpreter and agent. 
They sailed from New York, and, after reaching Paris, 
they obtained an interview with Charles X; and so favor- 
able was the impression produced on the mind of the king, 
that he presented them with three fine paintings, besides 
some money. Subsequently they went to Rome, where they 
were presented to the Pope, who gave them some books and 
plate for the service of the church. (Dr. Hough's History, 
&c, p. 166.) 

In the summer of 1877 I visited St. Regis, where I met a 
grandson of one of the Tarbell boys who were carried off. 
He was more than eighty years old, could speak only the 
Indian language, and I had to communicate with him 
through an interpreter. In this way I learned that he was 
aware of the fact that his grandfather had been captured, 
when a boy, from a town near Boston, and that he had rela- 
tives still living there. What interested me exceedingly 



112 



was the physical resemblance between him and some of his 
collateral kindred who lived and died at Squannacook, within 
my recollection. He was a man of ordinary size, with a 
sunburnt face and gray hair, though somewhat bald. There 
was but little appearance of Indian blood in his veins, and 
he would have passed anywhere for a good-looking old 
man. He lived with one of his sons in a small house that 
was clapboarded and painted, — and one of the best in the 
village, — where, surrounded by his grandchildren, he was 
passing the declining years of his life in comfortable ease. 
I was interested to learn from the Reverend Francis Mar- 
coux, the parish priest, that the Tarbells were among the 
most prominent families of the settlement, where there are, 
perhaps, forty persons who bear the name. They keep up, 
in a great measure, the same given names that are common 
among their kindred in this neighborhood. The inhab- 
itants of St. Regis, for the most part, retain the English 
names of their fathers, and, besides, have Indian ones. 

A third spot that might appropriately be marked by the 
town is the place where John Shattuck and his eldest son 
John, a young man in his nineteenth year, were murdered 
by the Indians, May 8, 1709. They were returning from 
the west side of the Nashua River, where Mr. Shattuck 
owned land, and were attacked just as they were crossing the 
Stony Fordway, below the dam, near the Hollingsworth 
Paper-mills, where they were killed. At the time of his 
death Mr. Shattuck, was one of the selectmen of the town. 
[A memorial stone with a suitable inscription was placed 
near the bridge in December, 1882.] 

A remarkable fatality seems to have followed Mrs. Shat- 
tuck's kindred. Her husband and eldest son were killed by 
the Indians, as has just been mentioned. Her father, James 
Blood, was likewise killed, September 13, 1692. So also 
were her uncle, William Longley, his wife and five children, 
July 27, 1694; and three others of their children were car- 
ried away into captivity at the same time. A relative, James 
Parker, Jr., and his wife were killed in this assault, and 
their children taken prisoners. Her step-father, Enosh Law- 



H3 

rence, received a wound in an engagement with the Indians, 
probably in the same attack of July 27, 1694, which almost 
wholly prevented him from earning a livelihood for himself 
and family. The three Tarbell children, who were carried 
off to Canada by the Indians, June 20, 1707, were cousins 
of Mrs. Shattuck. John Ames, who was shot by the savages 
at the gate of his own garrison, July 9, 1724, was the father 
of Jacob, who married her niece, Ruth Shattuck. And lastly, 
her son-in-law, Isaac Lakin, the husband of her daughter 
Elizabeth, was wounded in Lovewell's fight at Pigwacket, 
May 8, 1725. These calamities covered a period of only one 
generation, extending from the year 1692 to 1725. 

The task which you assigned me is now done ; and I need 
not assure you that it has been a labor of love. I will end 
it by saying that the lesson of these monuments will be lost, 
if it does not teach us to study the example and to imitate the 
virtues of the founders of the town. 



'5 



AN 

HISTORICAL ADDRESS 

July 12, 1905 

ON THE CELEBRATION OF THE 

Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the 
Settlement of the Town 



TO THE MEMORY 
OF 

tEtje CBarlp Settlers of Proton 

TO WHOM IN MANY WAYS THE PRESENT INHABITANTS 
OWE SO MUCH 

THESE PAGES ARE INSCRIBED 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS 

On this interesting occasion we all miss the presence of one 
whose form and figure were familiar to every man, woman, 
and child in town ; and only a few months ago we were all 
looking forward to the time when he would take a promi- 
nent part in these exercises of to-day. Some of us remem- 
ber the Bi-centennial Celebration which took place a half- 
century ago, and a few of us now in this assembly were 
present at that gathering. We recall the grace and dignity 
with which he, as President of the day on that occasion, 
performed the duties of his office, both in the meeting- 
house where the historical address was given, and in the tent 
where the after-dinner speeches were made. Whenever or 
wherever his services were needed, whether in the councils 
of the State or the Nation, they were always cheerfully 
rendered ; and in this quiet village his aid and advice, often 
sought by his townsfolk, were always freely given. In 
many walks of life, both lofty and lowly, his absence will 
be keenly felt ; but here among his old-time neighbors more 
than elsewhere, the loss is a personal one, and comes home 
to us all. We miss him now at this time more than words 
can tell. When death strikes such a man, who has led a 
blameless life, and whose bodily frame has become en- 
feebled by the infirmities of age, his removal is not a cause 
for sorrow; but rather it is an occasion for devout grati- 
tude to Heaven and for heartfelt thanksgivings that he was 
spared to us during so many years. Life is at the longest 
only a short period of probation, and birth is but the begin- 
ning of death. The noble example of such a character is as 
lasting as the countless ages of time, and is never lost, for 
the continuity of life keeps up the thread of connection. 
He died at an advanced age in the fulness of all his mental 
and intellectual powers, which seemed to strengthen as the 



120 



years rolled by. Truly he was the Grand Old Man of the 
Commonwealth! As long as the town of Groton shall have 
a municipal existence, the memory and traditions connected 
with the name of Boutwell will be counted among - her rich- 
est treasures. 

The story of this town has been told so many times, both 
in printed book and public address, that now I shall not 
repeat the tale. I might give a narrative of the trials and 
troubles, suffered equally by brave men and hardy women, 
during the first century of the settlement ; I might tell how 
the town was attacked by the Indians and burnt, and how 
the inhabitants were driven away from their homes and 
compelled for a while to abandon the place ; how on vari- 
ous occasions men were killed by the savages, families 
broken up, and children carried off into captivity ; and how 
oftentimes from the failure of crops they were pinched by 
want ; and how they endured other privations, — but a 
rehearsal of these facts at this time would be as tedious as 
a twice-told tale. Instead of describing the sad and dread- 
ful experiences of the early settlers, and the destruction of 
their homes by fire and hideous ruin, I shall confine myself 
to other topics, and speak of some of the conditions of 
their day, bringing the account down to a later period, and 
touching on a few of the more important events in our 
local history. 

In early Colonial days a town did not become a municipal 
corporation by formal vote of the General Court, with 
power to act as one person, but a grant of land, sometimes 
containing many thousand acres, was made to a body of 
men under certain conditions, which was practically a quasi 
form of incorporation. The most important of these con- 
ditions was the speedy settlement of a Godly minister, and 
often another condition was that those persons who re- 
ceived land should build houses thereon within a stated 
period of time. Sometimes a board of selectmen was 
named by the Legislature, who should look after the pru- 
dential affairs of the town until their successors were 
chosen. In those days this course was substantially the 
only formality needed in order to give local self -govern- 



121 



ment to a new community. The term " prudential affairs " 
was a convenient expression, intended to cover anything 
required by a town which prudence would dictate. 

In the early records of the Colony the proceedings of 
the General Court, as a rule, were not dated day by day, 
— though there are many exceptions, — but the beginning 
of the session is always given, and occasionally the days 
of the month are entered. These dates in the printed edi- 
tion of the Records are frequently carried along without 
authority, sometimes covering a period of several days, or 
even a week or more; and for this reason often it is im- 
possible to tell the exact date of any particular legislation 
unless there are contemporary documents on file which bear 
on the subject. In a few instances papers are found among 
the State Archives or elsewhere, which fix the date of such 
legislation as is wanting in the official reports. 

For these reasons it is impossible to tell to a dot or a 
day, with entire certainty, when the town of Groton began 
its municipal life or official existence, — or, in other words, 
when it was " incorporated," as the modern expression is. 
Without any doubt the date was near the end of May, 
1655, Old Style. It must have been after May 23, as on 
that day the General Court began its session; and it was 
before May 29, when the next entry in the records ap- 
pears. Fortunately there is still preserved among the 
manuscripts of the New-England Historic Genealogical 
Society a contemporary record of the action of the Gen- 
eral Court in regard to the matter. This interesting old 
paper, officially attested by Edward Rawson, Secretary of 
the Colony, and by William Torrey, Clerk of the Depu- 
ties, was given to that Society by the late Charles Woolley, 
for many years an honored resident of Groton. This 
document was signed on May 25, the day when the As- 
sistants, or Magistrates as they are often called, granted 
the petition, and apparently at the same time the House 
of Deputies took concurrent action. At that period the 
Assistants formed the body of. law-makers which is 
known to-day as the State Senate; and at that time the 

16 



122 



House of Deputies corresponded to the present House of 
Representatives. 

It may be proper to add that the Groton Historical So- 
ciety owns a contemporary copy of the record made near 
the time of the Grant by Edward Rawson, Secretary of the 
Colony, which is dated May 23, 1655. It was found 
among the papers of the late John Boynton, a former town- 
clerk of Groton, and it may have been sent, soon after the 
settlement of the town, to the selectmen for their infor- 
mation and guidance. Perhaps the Secretary took the first 
day of the General Court, as in England before April 8, 
1793, all laws passed at a session of Parliament went into 
effect from the first day, unless there was some clause to 
the contrary. 

But whatever the date, be it a few days more or less, 
the substance is always of greater importance than the 
shadow ; so it is of less moment to learn the exact time 
of the order than it is to know that the town has now 
reached the ripe old age of two centuries and a half, and 
that she wears the dignity of her increasing years like a 
crown of glory. 

Besides Groton the only two other towns established in 
the year 1655 by the Colony of Massachusetts Bay were 
Billerica and Chelmsford ; and singularly enough all three 
were contiguous townships, lying in the same county, and 
all three " incorporated " within a very few days of each 
other. It should be borne in mind that originally the 
town of Westford was a part of the territory of Chelms- 
ford. Why these three adjoining towns were thus created 
at this particular time may not have been a mere coinci- 
dence. It may have been the result of a certain condition 
of political " ins " and " outs " at that early period of 
Colonial history which now cannot be explained. 

The Charter, duly given by Charles I, was abrogated 
by the English courts in the summer of 1684. The action 
was considered by the Colonists as little short of a gross 
outrage, and caused much confusion in public affairs as 
well as hard feeling among the people. Says Palfrey, in 



123 

his "History of New England" (iv. 5), "The charter 
of Massachusetts, the only unquestionable title of her citi- 
zens to any rights, proprietary, social, or political, had been 
vacated by regular process in the English courts." It was 
vacated by a decree in Chancery, on June 21, 1684, which 
was confirmed on October 23 of the same year. On May 
25, 1686, Joseph Dudley, a native of Roxbury, under a 
commission from King James II, became President of New 
England, with jurisdiction over the whole region. This 
office he held for seven months, until December 30, when 
Edmund Andros became Governor of New England, ap- 
pointed by James II. He proved to be a highly arbitrary 
officer, and was deposed by a revolution of the people, on 
April 18, 1689. Andros was followed by Simon Brad- 
street, who was Governor from May 24, 1689, to May 14, 
1692. He was the grandfather of Dudley Bradstreet, an 
early minister of this town, which gives an additional in- 
terest to his name at the present time. During this period 
another Charter, signed by William and Mary, on Octo- 
ber 7, 1 69 1, and now known as the Second Charter, be- 
came operative. Under this instrument the Colony was 
made a Province, which is a lower grade of political ex- 
istence, as it has fewer privileges and more restrictions as 
to the rights of the people. From June, 1684, when the 
First Charter was vacated, till May, 1692, when the Second 
Charter went into operation, the time is generally spoken 
of as the Inter-Charter period, and is an exceptional one 
in the history of Massachusetts and New England. 

The first settlers of the town came here less than one 
generation after the Colonial Charter of Massachusetts 
Bay was granted by Charles I. They represented a rugged 
race, willing to undergo hardships in daily life, and ready 
to meet dangers from any source. Under calamitous con- 
ditions they pushed into the wilderness and made their 
homes in a region little known to the white man. They 
were a brave band, and took their trials and troubles with 
a readiness worthy of all praise. The new township lay 
on the frontiers, and all beyond was a desolate wild. It 



124 

stood on the outer edge of civilization, and for a time 
served as a barrier against Indian attacks on the inlying 
settlements. The lot of a frontiersman, even under favor- 
able conditions, is never a happy one, but at that period, 
particularly when cut off from neighbors and deprived of 
all social and commercial intercourse with other towns, 
and in an age when newspapers and postal privileges were 
unknown, his lot was indeed hard. In after-years this 
experience told on the settlers to their credit and benefit, 
and made the bold character that cropped out in later 
generations when there was need of such stuff. In their 
make-up they had the gristle which hardened into bone. 
The laws of heredity are not well enough known for us 
to trace closely Cause and Effect; but the lives led by the 
early pioneers of the Colony had their fruitage in the wars 
of the next century. These laws work in a subtle and 
mysterious way and cannot be defined, but the hardships 
of one generation toughen the fibre and sharpen the skill 
of the next. Given a strong body and a high standard 
of morality, and the offspring will show the inherited traits. 
Every farmer in this town knows that a strain of blood 
and breed will tell on his domestic stock. As flowers, by 
a process not revealed to us, select the tint of delicate 
colors from the swampy bogs of nature, so the toils of life 
weave the warp and the woof which make up noble char- 
acter. ' The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good 
and ill together." Heredity and environment when they 
w < irk in harmony plough deep and send forth a rich 
harvest. 

It was once wittily said by a writer, — so distinguished 
in his day that I hardly know whether to speak of him 
as a poet or a physician, but whom all will recognize as 
the Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, — that a man's edu- 
cation begins a hundred years before he is born. I am 
almost tempted to add that even then he is putting on 
only the finishing touches of his training. A man is a 
composite being, both in body and soul, with a long line 
of ancestry whose beginnings it is impossible to trace; 



12 = 



and every succeeding generation only helps to foster and 
bind together the various and innumerable qualities which 
make up his own personality, though they be modified 
by countless circumstances that form his later education, 
and for which he alone is responsible. 

The first comers to Massachusetts brought from their 
English homes a love of personal freedom and liberty. 
For generations this feeling had not been encouraged there 
by the royal authorities; and its growth, hampered by 
many obstacles, had been slow. These settlers were a 
hard-working set and a God-fearing people, and of the 
right stock to found a nation. Here the new conditions 
enabled them to give free scope to their actions, and the 
natural drift of events was all toward individual independ- 
ence in its widest sense. There was no law against either 
conventicles or non-conformists, and for that period of 
time there was great liberality of sentiment on the part 
of the Colonists. For centuries the microbic atoms of in- 
dependence had been kept alive in England, and from one 
generation to another they handed down the germs which 
developed in the new world, and bore fruit in the Ameri- 
can Revolution. From the time of King John, who, on 
June "15, 12 1 5, signed the Great Charter of the Liberties 
of England, the recognition of human rights was advanc- 
ing in the mother country slowly but steadily; and the 
new settlers here, infected with similar ideas, brought with 
them the spirit of these political principles. The develop- 
ment of broad views was gradual, but on every advance 
the wheels were blocked behind, and the gain was held. 
Each separate step thus taken led finally to the Declaration 
of Independence, which was the crowning point of political 
freedom. Based on this instrument, and following it closely 
both in spirit and in point of time, was the written Con- 
stitution of the United States, which has served as a model 
for so many different governments. 

Less than one generation passed between the time when 
the Charter of Charles I was given to the Colony of Mas- 
sachusetts Bay and the date when the grant of Groton 



126 



Plantation was made by the General Court. The Charter 
was given on March 4, 1628-9, an ^ tne grant of the 
town was made in May, 1655, — the interval being a little 
more than twenty-six years. At that period scarcely any- 
thing was known about the geography of the region, and 
the Charter gave to the Governor and other representa- 
tives of the Massachusetts Company, on certain conditions, 
all the territory lying between an easterly and westerly line 
running three miles north of any part of the Merrimack 
River and extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, 
and a similar parallel line running three miles south of 
any part of the Charles River. Without attempting to 
trace in detail, from the time of the Cabots to the days 
of the Charter, the continuity of the English title to this 
transcontinental strip of territory, it is enough to know 
that the precedents and usages of that period gave to Great 
Britain, in theory at least, undisputed sway over the re- 
gion, and forged every link in the chain of authority and 
sovereignty. 

At the time of the Charter it was incorrectly supposed 
that America was a narrow strip of land, — perhaps an 
arm of the continent of Asia, — and that the distance across 
from ocean to ocean was comparatively short. It was known 
then that the Isthmus of Darien was narrow, and there- 
fore it was supposed that the whole continent also was 
narrow. New England was a region about which little 
was known beyond slight examinations made from the 
coast line. The rivers were unexplored, and all knowledge 
concerning them was confined to the neighborhood of the 
places where they emptied into the sea. The early naviga- 
tors thought that the general course of the Merrimack was 
easterly and westerly, as it runs in that direction near the 
mouth ; and their error was perpetuated inferentially by 
the words of the Charter. By later explorations this strip 
of territory has since been lengthened out into a belt three 
thousand miles long, and stretches across the whole width 
of a continent. The cities of Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, 
Buffalo, Detroit, and Milwaukee all lie within this zone, 



127 

on territory that once belonged to the Massachusetts Com- 
pany, according to the Charter granted by King Charles. 

The general course of the Merrimack, as well as its 
source, soon became known to the early settlers on the 
coast. The northern boundary of the original grant to 
the Colony of Massachusetts Bay was established under a 
misapprehension; and this ignorance of the topography of 
the country on the part of the English authorities afterward 
gave rise to considerable controversy between the adjoin- 
ing Provinces of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. So 
long as the territory in question remained unsettled, the 
dispute was a matter of little practical importance; but 
after a while it assumed grave proportions and led to much 
confusion. Grants made by one Province clashed with 
those made by the other ; and there was no ready tribunal 
to decide the claims of the two parties. Towns were 
chartered by Massachusetts in territory claimed by New 
Hampshire; and this action was the cause of bitter feel- 
ing and provoking legislation. Massachusetts contended 
for the tract of land " nominated in the bond," which 
would carry the jurisdictional line fifty miles northward, 
into the very heart of New Hampshire ; and, on the other 
hand, that Province strenuously opposed this view of the 
case, and claimed that the line should run, east and west, 
three miles north of the mouth of the Merrimack River. 
In order to settle these conflicting claims a Royal Com- 
mission was appointed to consider the subject and estab- 
lish the contested line. The Commissioners were selected 
from the councillors of the Provinces of New York, New 
Jersey, Nova Scotia, and Rhode Island, — men supposed 
to be free from any local prejudices in the matter, and 
impartial in their feelings; and without doubt they were 
such. The board, as appointed under the Great Seal, con- 
sisted of nineteen members, although only seven served in 
their capacity as Commissioners. They met at Hampton, 
New Hampshire, on August I, 1737; and for mutual con- 
venience the Legislative Assemblies of the two Provinces 
met in the same neighborhood, — the Assembly of New 



128 



Hampshire at Hampton Falls, and that of Massachusetts 
at Salisbury, places only five miles apart. This was done 
in order that the claims of each side might be considered 
with greater despatch than otherwise they would receive. 
The General Court of Massachusetts met at Salisbury, in 
the First Parish Meeting-house, on August 10, 1737, and 
continued to hold its sessions in that town until October 20, 
inclusive, though with several adjournments, of which one 
was for thirty-five days. The printed journal of the House 
of Representatives, during this period, gives the proceed- 
ings of that body, which contain much in regard to the 
controversy besides the ordinary business of legislation. 
Many years previously the two Provinces had been united 
so far as to have the same governor, — at this time Jona- 
than Belcher, — but each Province had its own legislative 
body and code of laws. 

The Commissioners heard both sides of the question, 
and agreed upon an award in alternative, leaving to the 
king the interpretation of the charters given respectively 
by Charles I and William and Mary. Under one inter- 
pretation the decision was in favor of Massachusetts, and 
under the other in favor of New Hampshire; and at the 
same time each party was allowed six weeks to file objec- 
tions. Neither side, however, was satisfied with this in- 
direct decision ; and the whole matter was then taken to 
the king' in council. Massachusetts claimed that the Mer- 
rimack River began at the confluence of the Winnepesaukee 
and the Pemigewasset Rivers, and that the northern boun- 
dary of the Province should run, east and west, three miles 
north of this point. On the other hand. New Hampshire 
claimed that the intention of the Charter was to establish 
a northern boundary on a line, running east and west, 
three miles north of the mouth of the Merrimack River. 
In this controversy Massachusetts seems to have based her 
claim on the letter of the contract, while New Hampshire 
based hers on the spirit of the contract. 

The strongest argument in favor of Massachusetts was 
the fact that she had always considered the disputed ter- 



129 

ritory as belonging to her jurisdiction; and before this 
period she had chartered twenty-four towns lying within 
the limits of the tract. These several settlements all looked 
to her for protection, and naturally sympathized with her 
during the controversy. As just stated, neither party was 
satisfied with the verdict rendered by the Royal Commis- 
sioners ; and both sides appealed from their judgment. 
The matter was then taken to England for a decision, 
which was given by the king, on March 4, 1739-40. His 
judgment was final, and in favor of New Hampshire. It 
gave to that Province not only all the territory in dispute, 
but a strip of land fourteen miles in width lying along 
her southern border, — mostly west of the Merrimack, — ■ 
which she had never claimed. This strip was the tract of 
land between the line running east and west three miles 
north of the southernmost trend of the river, and a similar 
line three miles north of its mouth. By the decision many 
townships were taken from Massachusetts and given to 
New Hampshire. The settlement of this disputed question 
was undoubtedly a great public benefit, but at the time it 
caused a good deal of hard feeling. The new line was 
established by surveyors officially in the spring of 1741. 

In regard to the divisional line between the two Prov- 
inces lying east of the Merrimack, there was much less 
uncertainty, as, in a general way, it followed the bend of 
the river, and for that reason there was much less con- 
troversy over the jurisdiction. Many of you, doubtless, 
have noticed on a map the tier of towns which fringe the 
north bank of the Merrimack, between the city of Lowell 
and the mouth of the river; and, perhaps, you have won- 
dered why those places, which from a geographical point 
of view belong to the State of New Hampshire, should 
come now within the limits of Massachusetts. The ex- 
planation of this seeming incongruity goes back to the date 
of the first Charter, now more than two hundred and 
seventy-five years ago. 

Thus far I have given an account of this dispute in 
some detail, as the town of Groton was a party to the con- 

17 



130 

troversy and took a deep interest in the result. It was 
by this decision of the king- that the town lost all that 
portion of its territory which lies now within the limits 
of the city of Nashua ; but it did not suffer nearly so much 
as our neighbor, the town of Dunstable, suffered by the 
same decision. At that time she received a staggering 
blow, and her loss, indeed, was a grievous one. Originally 
she was a large township containing 128,000 acres of land, 
situated on both sides of the Merrimack ; and she was so 
cut in two by the running of the new line that by far the 
larger part of her territory came within the jurisdiction 
of New Hampshire. Even the meeting-house and the 
burying-ground, both so closely and dearly connected with 
the early life of our people, were separated from that por- 
tion of the town still remaining in Massachusetts ; and this 
fact added not a little to the animosity felt by the inhab- 
itants when the disputed question was settled. It is no 
exaggeration to say that throughout the old township and 
all along the line of the borders from the Merrimack to 
the Connecticut, the feelings and sympathies of the people 
were wholly with Massachusetts. 

Thus cut in twain, there were two adjoining towns bear- 
ing the same name, the one in Massachusetts, and the other 
in New Hampshire ; and thus they remained for nearly 
a century. This similarity of designation was the source 
of considerable confusion which lasted until the New 
Hampshire town, on January 1, 1837, took the name of 
Nashua, after the river from which its prosperity largely 
is derived. 

By the same decision of the king our other adjoining 
neighbor, Townsend, — for at that time Pepperell had not 
as yet taken on a separate municipal existence, — was 
deprived of more than one quarter of her territory; and 
the present towns of Brookline, Mason, and New Ipswich 
in New Hampshire are reaping now the benefit of what 
she then lost. 

Enough of the original Groton Plantation, however, was 
left to furnish other towns and parts of towns with ample 



I3i 

material for their territory. On November 26, 1742, the 
west parish of Groton was set off as a precinct. It com- 
prised all that part of the town lying on the west side of 
the Nashua River, north of the old road leading from 
Groton to Townsend, and now known as Pepperell. Its 
incorporation as a parish or precinct allowed the inhab- 
itants to manage their own ecclesiastical affairs, while in 
all other matters they continued to act with the parent 
town. Its partial separation gave them the benefit of a 
settled minister in their neighborhood, which in those days 
was considered of great importance. 

It is an interesting fact to note that in early times the 
main reason given in the petitions for dividing towns was 
the long distance to the meeting-house, by which the in- 
habitants were prevented from hearing the stated preach- 
ing of the gospel. At the present day I do not think that 
this argument is ever urged by those who favor the divi- 
sion of a township. 

On April 12, 1753, when the Act was signed by the 
Governor, the west parish of Groton was made a district, 
— the second step toward its final and complete separation 
from the mother town. At this period the Crown authori- 
ties were jealous of the growth of the popular party in the 
House of Representatives, and for that reason they frowned 
on every attempt to increase the number of its members. 
This fact had some connection with the tendency, which 
began to crop out during Governor Shirley's administra- 
tion, to form districts instead of towns, thereby withhold- 
ing their representation. At this date the west parish, 
under its changed political conditions, took the name of 
Pepperrell, and was vested with still broader powers. It 
was so called after Sir William Pepperrell, who had suc- 
cessfully commanded the New England troops against 
Louisburg; and the name was suggested, doubtless, by 
the Reverend Joseph Emerson, the first settled minister 
of the parish. He had accompanied that famous expedi- 
tion in the capacity of chaplain, only the year before he 
had received a call for his settlement, and the associations 



132 

with the commander were fresh in his memory. The 
hero of the capture of Louisburg always wrote his sur- 
name with a double " r " ; and for many years the district 
followed that custom, and like him spelled the name with 
two " r "s, but gradually the town dropped one of these 
letters. It was near the beginning of the nineteenth century 
that the present orthographic form of the word became 
general. 

In the session of the General Court which met at Water- 
town, on July 19, 1775, Pepperell was represented by a 
member, and at that time practically acquired the rights 
and privileges of a town without any special act of incor- 
poration. Other similar districts were likewise represented, 
in accordance with the precept calling that body together, 
and thus they obtained full municipal rights without the 
usual formality. The precedent seems to have been set by 
the First Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, which met 
in the autumn of 1774, and was made up of delegates 
from the districts as well as from the towns. It was a 
revolutionary step taken outside of the law ; and the in- 
formality led to a general Act, passed on August 23, 1775, 
which legalized the change. 

Shirley, unlike Pepperell, was never incorporated as a 
precinct, but was set off as a district on January 5, 1753, 
three months before Pepperell was set off as one. In the 
Act of Incorporation the name was left blank, — as it was 
previously in the case of Harvard, and soon afterward in 
that of Pepperell, — and " Shirley " was filled in at the 
time of its engrossment. It was so named after William 
Shirley, the Governor of the Province at that period. It 
never was incorporated specifically as a town, but became 
one by a general Act of the Legislature, passed on August 
2 3> 1/75- While a district it was represented in the ses- 
sion of the General Court which met at Watertown, on 
July 19, 1775, as well as represented in the First Provin- 
cial Congress of Massachusetts, and thus tacitly acquired 
the dignity of a town, which was afterward confirmed by 
the Act, just mentioned. 



133 

These two townships, Pepperell and Shirley, were the 
first settlements to swarm from the original Plantation. 
With the benediction of the mother they left the parent 
hive, and on all occasions they have proved to be dutiful 
daughters in whom the old town has always taken a deep 
pride. In former years, before the days of railroads, these 
two towns were closely identified with Groton, and the 
social intercourse between them was very intimate. If the 
families of the three towns were not akin to one another, 
in a certain sense they were neighbors. 

The latest legislation connected with the dismemberment 
of the original grant, — and perhaps the last for many 
years to come, — is the Act of February 14, 1871, by which 
the town of Ayer was incorporated. This enactment took 
from Groton a large section of territory lying near its 
southern borders, and from Shirley all that part of the 
town on the easterly side of the Nashua River which was 
annexed to it from Groton, on February 6, 1798. 

Thus has the old Groton Plantation, during a period of 
two hundred and fifty years, been hewn and hacked down 
to less than one half of its original dimensions. Formerly 
it contained 40,960 acres, while now the amount of taxable 
land within the town is 19,850 acres. It has furnished, 
substantially, the entire territory of Pepperell, Shirley, and 
Ayer, more than one half of Dunstable, and has contributed 
more or less to form five other towns, — namely, Harvard, 
Littleton, and Westford, in Massachusetts, besides Nashua 
and Hollis, in New Hampshire. 

The early settlers of Groton, like all other persons of that 
period of time or of any period, had their limitations. 
They were lovers of political freedom, and they gave the 
largest liberty to all, — so far as it related to their physical 
condition; but in matters of religious belief it was quite 
otherwise. With them it was an accepted tradition, — per- 
haps with us not entirely outgrown, — that persons who 
held a different faith from themselves were likely to have 
a lower standard of morality. They saw things by a dim 
light, they saw " through a glass darkly." They beheld 



134 

theological objects by the help of dipped candles, and they 
interpreted religion and its relations to life accordingly. 
They viewed all ecclesiastical matters through chinks, while 
we who live two hundred and fifty years later can bring to 
our aid the electric light of science and modern discovery. 
We have a great advantage over what they had, and let 
us use it fairly. Let us be just to them, as we hope for 
justice from those who will follow us. Let us remember 
that the standards of daily life change from one century 
to another. Perhaps in future generations, when we are 
judged, the verdict of posterity will be against us rather 
than against the early comers. More has been given to us 
than was given to them, and we shall be held answerable 
in a correspondingly larger measure. It is not the number 
of talents with which we have been entrusted that will tell 
in our favor, but the sacred use we make of them. In 
deciding this question, two centuries and a half hence, I 
am by no means sure of the judgment that history will 
render. Do we as a nation give all men a square deal ? 
The author of the Golden Rule was color-blind, and in its 
application he made no difference between the various races 
of mankind. This rule applied to the black man equally 
with the white man. Do we now give our African brother 
a fair chance? It is enough for us to try to do right, and 
let the consequences be what they will. " Hew up to the 
chalk line, and let the chips fly where they may," once said 
Wendell Phillips. We hear much nowadays about the 
simple life, but that was the life lived by the settlers, and 
taught to their children, both by precept and example. 
Austere in their belief, they practised those homely virtues 
which lie at the base of all civilization ; and we of to-day 
owe much to their memory. They prayed for the wisdom 
that cometh from above, and for the righteousness that 
exalteth a nation; and they tried to square their conduct 
by their creed. 

The early settlers were a plain folk, and they knew little 
of the pride and pomposity of later times. To sum up 
briefly their social qualities, I should say that they were 



135 

neighborly to a superlative degree, which means much in 
country life. They looked after the welfare of their 
neighbors who were not so well off in this world's goods 
as they themselves, they watched with them when they 
were sick, and sympathized with them when death came 
into their families. In cold weather they hauled wood for 
the widows, and cut it up and split it for them; and when 
a beef " crittur " or a hog was killed, no one went hungry. 
When a man met with an accident and had a leg broken, 
the neighbors saw that his crops were gathered, and that 
all needful work was done; and after a heavy snow-storm 
in winter, they turned to and broke out the roads and pri- 
vate ways with sleds drawn by many yoke of oxen be- 
longing in the district. Happily all this order of things is 
not yet a lost art, but in former times the custom was more 
thoroughly observed, and spread over a much wider region 
than now prevails. When help was needed in private house- 
holds, they never asked, like the lawyer of old, " And who is 
my neighbor?'' They always stretched out their hands to 
the poor, and they reached forth their hands to the needy. 

To us it seems almost pathetic, certainly amusing, to see 
how closely they connected their daily life with the affairs 
of the church. As a specimen I will give an instance 
found in the note-book of the Reverend John Fiske, of 
Chelmsford. He records that James Parker, James Fiske, 
and John Nutting wished to remove from Chelmsford and 
take up their abode in this town. The subject of their 
removal was brought before the church there in the autumn 
of 1661, when they desired the "loving leave" of their 
brethren so to do, as well as prayers that the blessing of 
God might accompany them to their new homes. The 
meeting was held on November 9, 1661, when some dis- 
cussion took place and considerable feeling was shown. 
Mr. Fiske, the pastor, shrewdly declined to commit himself 
in the matter; or, according to the record, declined to 
speak on the question " one way or the other, but desired 
that the brethren might manifest themselves." At . the 
conference one brother said that there was no necessity for 



136 

the removal, and hoped that the three members would give 
up their intention to remove, and would remain in Chelms- 
ford. Reading between the lines it seems as if this town 
had invited the three men to settle here; and Brother 
Parker speaking for them ("in the plural number") said 
that God's hand was to be seen in the whole movement. 
The same hand which brought them to Chelmsford now 
pointed to Groton. Apparently the meeting was a pro- 
tracted one, and " scarce a man in the Church but pres- 
ently said the grounds, the grounds." This was another 
form of calling for the question, — in other words, for the 
reasons of the removal, whether valid or not. While the 
decision of the conference is not given in exact language, 
inferentially it was in favor of their going, — as thev were 
here in December, 1662. James Parker was a deacon of 
the Chelmsford church ; and perhaps there had been some 
slight disagreement between him and a few of the other 
members. Evidently he was one of the pillars of the body 
at Chelmsford ; and at once he became a deacon at Groton. 
To us now it is amusing to see what a commotion in the 
church was raised because these three families purposed 
to remove to another town. " Behold, how great a matter 
a little fire kindleth." Fortunately for this town James 
Parker, James Fiske, and John Nutting with their house- 
holds came hither to live, where they all became useful and 
influential citizens far above the average. In his day James 
Parker was the most prominent man in Groton, filling 
many civil and military positions; the next year after 
coming James Fiske was chosen selectman, and later town- 
clerk ; and John Nutting was appointed surveyor of high- 
ways. There are in this audience, doubtless, at the present 
moment many descendants of these three pioneers who had 
so many obstacles thrown in their way before taking up 
their abode here. If these families had not removed hither 
at that early period, perhaps their descendants now would 
be celebrating anniversaries elsewhere rather than here, and 
might never have known what they lost by the change in 
their respective birthplaces. Without being able to call 
them by name or to identify them in any way, to all such 



137 

I offer the greetings of this gathering on the good judg- 
ment shown by their ancestors. 

This town took its name from Groton, Co. Suffolk, 
England, which was the native place of Deane Winthrop, 
one of the original petitioners for Groton Plantation. His 
name stands at the head of the list of selectmen appointed 
in 1655 by the General Court; and to-day we should give 
him the title of Chairman of the Board. He was a son 
of John Winthrop who came to New England in 1630 as 
Governor of Massachusetts; and it was in compliment to 
him that the name of his birthplace was given to the town. 
Without much doubt he was a resident here for a few 
years; and in this opinion I am supported by a distin- 
guished member of that family, now deceased, who some 
time ago wrote me as follows : 

Boston, 27 February, 1878. 

My dear Dr. Green, — It would give me real pleasure to 
aid you in establishing the relations of Deane Winthrop to the 
Town of Groton in Massachusetts. But there are only three 
or four letters of Deane's among the family papers in my pos- 
session, and not one of them is dated Groton. Nor can I find 
in any of the family papers a distinct reference to his resi- 
dence there. 

There are, however, two brief notes of his, both dated " the 
16 of December, 1662," which I cannot help thinking may have 
been written at Groton. One of them is addressed to his 
brother John, the Governor of Connecticut, who was then in 
London, on business connected with the Charter of Connecti- 
cut. In this note Deane says as follows : — 

" I have some thoughts of removing from the place that I 
now live in, into your Colony, if I could lit of a convenient 
place. The place that I now live in is too little for me, my 
children now growing up." 

We know that Deane Winthrop was at the head of the first 
Board of Selectmen of Groton a few years earlier, and that 
he went to reside at Pullen Point, now called Winthrop, not 
many years after. 

I am strongly inclined to think with you that this note of 
December, 1662, was written at Groton. 

Yours very truly, 

Samuel A. Green, M.D. RoBT. C. WlNTHROP. 

18 



133 

During' my boyhood I always had a strong desire to visit 
Groton in England, which gave its name to this town and 
indirectly to six other towns in the United States. Strictly 
speaking, it is not a town, but a parish ; and there are 
technical distinctions between the two. More than fifty 
years ago I was staying in London, and as a stranger in 
that great metropolis, even after many inquiries I found 
much difficulty in learning the best way to reach the little 
village. All my previous knowledge in regard to the place 
was limited to the fact that it lay in the county of Suf- 
folk, near its southern border. After a somewhat close 
study of a Railway Guide, I left London in the month of 
October, 1854, for Sudbury, which is the only town of 
considerable size in the immediate neighborhood of Groton. 
After changing - trains at a railway junction, of which the 
name has long since faded from my memory, I found 
myself in a carriage alone with a fellow-passenger, who 
was both courteous and communicative, and thoroughly ac- 
quainted with the country through which we were passing. 
On telling him the purpose of my visit, he seemed to be 
much interested, and told me in return that he was very 
familiar with the parish of Groton ; and he had many 
questions to ask about our good old town, which I was 
both able and glad to answer. It soon turned out that 
my hitherto unknown friend was Sir Henry E. Austen, 
of Chelsworth, Hadleigh, who, on reaching" Sudbury, gave 
me a note of introduction to Richard Almack, Esq., of 
Long Melford, which I used a day or two afterward with 
excellent results. From Sudbury I drove in a dog-cart to 
Box ford, where I tarried over night at the White Horse 
Inn, and in the morning walked over to Groton, less than 
a mile distant. This place — the object of my pilgrimage 
— I found to be a typical English village of the olden time, 
very small both in territory and population, and utterly 
unlike any of its American namesakes. Its history goes 
back many generations, even to a period before Domes- 
da}' Book, which was ordered by William the Conqueror 
more than eight hundred years ago, and which registers 



139 

a survey of lands in England made at that early date. 
The text is in Latin, and the words are much shortened 
by various contractions. The writing is peculiar and hard 
to read; but it gives some interesting statistics in regard 
to the place. 

On reaching the end of my trip I called at once on the 
rector, who received me very kindly and offered to go with 
me to the church, which invitation I readily accepted. He 
expressed much interest in the New England towns bear- 
ing the name of Groton, and spoke of a visit made to the 
English town, a few years previously, by the Honorable 
Robert C. Winthrop, of Boston, which gave him great 
pleasure. We walked over the grounds of the old manor, 
once belonging to John Winthrop, first Governor of Massa- 
chusetts; and Groton Place, the residence of the lord of the 
manor at that time, was pointed out, as well as a solitary 
mulberry-tree, which stood in Winthrop's garden, and is 
now the last vestige of the spot. In strolling over the 
grounds I picked up some acorns under an oak, which 
were afterward sent home to my father and planted here, 
but unfortunately they did not come up. I remember with 
special pleasure the attentions of Mr. R. F. Swan, post- 
master at Boxford, who took me to a small school of little 
children in that parish, where the teacher told the scholars 
that I had come from another Groton across the broad 
ocean. He also kindly made for me a rough tracing of 
the part of the parish in which I was more particularly 
interested ; and as I had left the inn at Boxford when he 
called, he sent it by private hands to me at the Sudbury 
railway station. All these little courtesies and many more 
I recollect with great distinctness, and they add much to 
the pleasant memories of my visit to the ancestral town, 
which has such a numerous progeny of municipal descend- 
ants in the United States. 

Of this large family our town, now celebrating the two 
hundred and fiftieth anniversary of its birth, is the eldest; 
and as the " first-born, higher than the kings of the 
earth." 



14-0 

The next child in the order of descent is the town in 
Connecticut, — younger than this town by just half a cen- 
tury, and during the Revolution the scene of the heroic 
Ledyard's death. It was so named in the year 1705, dur- 
ing the Governorship of Fitz-John Winthrop, out of re- 
spect to the Suffolk home of the family. In population 
this is the largest of the various towns bearing the name, 
and contains several thriving, villages. It is situated on the 
east bank of the Thames River, in New London County. 

The next town in age is the one in Grafton County, 
New Hampshire, which was originally granted by the 
Legislature of that State as early as July 3, 1761, under 
the name of Cockermouth, and re-granted on November 22, 
1766; but the present name of Groton was not given until 
December 7, 1796. It was chosen by certain inhabitants 
of the place, who were connected either by birth or through 
kindred with this town. The population is small, and the 
principal pursuit of the people is farming, though there are 
eight or ten sawmills within its limits. Mica is found in 
great abundance, and forms the basis of an important in- 
dustry. There is a Spectacle Pond, lying partly within the 
town, of which the name may have gone from this neigh- 
borhood. There are two villages in the township, the one 
known as North Groton, perhaps the more important, and 
the other situated near the southerly border, and known 
as Groton. Between these two villages, in the centre of 
the territory, are the town-house, and an old burying- 
ground where fifteen years ago I examined many of the 
epitaphs and found a few family names that are still 
common here in our Old Burying-ground. 

The fourth child in the municipal family is the town 
of Groton, Caledonia County, Vermont, a pretty village 
lying in the Wells River valley, and chartered on Octo- 
ber 20, 1789, though the earliest settlers were living there 
a few years before that date. The first child born in the 
town was Sally, daughter of Captain Edmund and Sally 
(Wesson) Morse, who began her earthly pilgrimage on 
September 2, 1787. The father was a native of our town, 



141 

and principally through his influence the name of Groton 
was given to the home of his adoption among the foot-hills 
of the Green Mountains. Wells River runs through the 
township in a southeasterly direction, and with its tributaries 
affords some excellent water-power along its course. This 
stream rises in Groton Pond, a beautiful sheet of water, 
and empties into the Connecticut at Wells River Junction, 
a railway centre of some importance. 

My visit to the town was made on July 26, 1890, and 
while there I called on the Honorable Isaac Newton Hall, 
one of the oldest and most prominent citizens of the place, 
who kindly took me in his buggy through the village, point- 
ing out on the way the various objects of public interest. 
Mr. Hall, to whom I was under great obligations, died in 
Chicago, while there on a visit, November 30, 1893, aged 
85 years and 6 months. The Methodist Episcopal Church, 
situated at one end of the village street, had some memo- 
rial windows, of which two had inscriptions, as follows : — 

Capt • Edmund • Morse 

Born • Groton • Mass • 1764 

Died • Groton • Vt • 1843 



Sally • Morse • Hill 

Born • 1787 — Died • 1864 

The • First • Person • Born • in • Groton 

Before leaving the place I walked through the burying- 
ground and examined some of the epitaphs, but none of the 
names reminded me particularly of the parent town. 

The next town of the name is Groton, Erie County, Ohio, 
which was settled about the year 1809. It was first called 
Wheatsborough, after a Mr. Wheats, who originally owned 
most of the township. It lies in the region known as the 
Fire Lands of Ohio, a tract of half a million acres given by 
the State of Connecticut in May, 1792, to those of her 
citizens who had suffered losses from the enemy during 
the Revolution. Like many other places in the neighbor- 
hood, the town took its name from the one in Connecticut. 



142 

Late in the autumn of 1889 I happened to be in Nash- 
ville, Tennessee, as a member of a committee on business 
connected with the Peabody Normal College in that city, 
of which ex-President Hayes was chairman. On telling 
him incidentally that on my return homeward I purposed 
to tarry for a day or two at Groton, Erie County, Ohio, he 
kindly invited me to make him a visit at his home in 
Fremont, which was very near my objective point; and 
he said furthermore that he would accompany me on my 
trip to that town, which offer I readily accepted. On the 
morning of November 27 we left Fremont by rail for 
Norwalk, the shire town of Huron County, — a county 
in which the township of Groton formerly came, — where 
we alighted, and at once repaired to the rooms of the 
Firelands Historical Society. Here we were met by sev- 
eral gentlemen, prominent in the city as well as in the 
Historical Society, who showed us many attentions. We 
had an opportunity there to examine various objects of 
interest connected with the early history of that part of 
the State. Then taking the cars again on our return, we 
proceeded as far as Bellevue, where we left the train. 
Here at a livery-stable we engaged a buggy and a pair of 
horses, without knowing exactly to what part of the town- 
ship I wished to go, as I was then told that there was no 
village of Groton, but only scattered farms throughout the 
town. One man, however, said that there was a place 
called Groton Centre, which name seemed to me very 
familiar, and so thither we directed our course. After 
driving over muddy roads for five or six miles, we inquired 
at a farm-house the way to Groton Centre, where we were 
told that a school-house in sight, half a mile off, was the 
desired place. There was no village whatever to be seen 
in any direction ; and the building was the public voting- 
place, on which account the neighborhood received the 
name. The town is entirely agricultural in its character, 
and the land is largely prairie with a rich soil. It is small 
in population, and does not contain even a post-office. The 
inhabitants for their postal facilities depend on Bellevue 



J 43 

and Sandusky, adjacent places. I was told that its early- 
settlers came largely from Connecticut and Pennsylvania ; 
and I thought that I could detect the origin of some of 
them by the different styles of construction as seen in their 
houses and barns still standing, whether they came from 
the one or the other of the two States. . 

Another town bearing the good name of Groton, which 
I have visited, is the one in Tompkins County, New York. 
More than eighteen years ago I found myself at Cortland, 
Cortland County, New York, where I had gone in order 
to see the venerable Mrs. Sarah Chaplin Rockwood, a na- 
tive of this town. She was a daughter of the Reverend 
Dr. Chaplin, the last minister settled by the town, and at 
that time she was almost one hundred and two years old. 
By a coincidence she was then living on Groton Avenue, 
a thoroughfare which leads to Groton, Tompkins County, 
a town ten miles distant. Taking advantage of my near- 
ness to that place, on May 4, 1887, I drove there and was 
set down at the Groton Hotel, where I passed the night. 
Soon after my arrival I took a stroll through the village, 
and then called on Marvin Morse Baldwin, Esq., a lawyer 
of prominence, and the author of an historical sketch of 
the place, published in 1868, but who is now deceased. 
The town was formed originally, on April 7, 181 7, from 
Locke, Cayuga County, under the name of Division ; but 
during the next year this was changed to Groton, on the 
petition of the inhabitants, some of whom were from 
Groton, Massachusetts, and others from Groton, Connecti- 
cut. The principal village is situated on Owasco Inlet, 
a small stream, and is surrounded by a rolling country of 
great beauty. The population is small, and the business 
chiefly confined to a machine-shop and foundry, several 
carriage-shops, and the making of agricultural implements. 
The town supports a National Bank and also a weekly 
newspaper, and has railway communication with other 
places. 

In all these visits to the several towns of the same name, 
I have interested myself to learn the local pronunciation 



144 

of the word. I have asked many persons in all ranks of 
life and grades of society in regard to the matter, and 
without exception they have given it " Graw-ton," which 
every " native here, and to the manner born " knows so 
well how to pronounce. It has never been Grow-ton, or 
Grot-ton even, but always with a broad sound on the first 
and accented syllable. Such was the old pronunciation in 
England, and by the continuity of custom and tradition 
the same has been kept up throughout the various settle- 
ments in this country bearing the name. 

The latest town aspiring to the honor of the name of 
Groton is in Brown County, South Dakota. It was laid 
out about twenty-two years ago on land owned by the 
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company. I 
have been informed that various New England names were 
selected by the Company and given to different townships 
along the line, not for personal or individual reasons, but 
because they were short and well sounding, and unlike 
any others in the Territory of that period. 

At some future day, if my life be spared long enough, 
I may pay my respects to this youngest child of the name 
and visit her township. In that case I will describe her 
personality and place her in the family group with her 
elder sisters. 

During two centuries and a half — the long period of 
time now under consideration — many changes have taken 
place in the customs and manners of our people. Some of 
these are entirely forgotten, and traces of them are found 
only in the records of the past; and I purpose to allude 
to a few. In this way a survival of their knowledge may 
be kept up, which will help the present generation in some 
degree to catch the attitude of its ancestors. 

In the early days of New England marriages were per- 
formed by magistrates only, or by other officers appointed 
for that particular purpose. It was many years before 
ministers of the Gospel were allowed to take part in the 
ceremony. At a town meeting held here, on December 15, 
1669, the selectmen were authorized " to petition to the 



145 

[General] Court for one to marry persons in our towne " ; 
and it is probable that before this time persons wishing to 
be joined in wedlock were obliged either to go elsewhere 
in order to carry out their intention, or else a magistrate 
or other officer was brought for the occasion. At that 
period the population of the town was small, and the mar- 
riages were few in number; and before this date only 
eight couples are found as recorded of Groton. Perhaps 
these marriages were solemnized by a Commissioner of 
Small Causes, who was authorized equally with a magis- 
trate to conduct the ceremony. These officers were em- 
powered to act in all cases within the jurisdiction of a 
magistrate, and were approved, either by the Court of 
Assistants or by the County Courts, on the request of any 
town where there was no resident magistrate. They were 
three in number in each of such towns, and were chosen 
by the freemen. 

Another instance of a change in early customs is found 
in connection with funerals, which formerly were conducted 
with severe simplicity. Our pious forefathers were opposed 
to all ecclesiastical rites, and any custom that reminded 
them of the English church met with their stern disap- 
proval. And, furthermore, prayers over a corpse were 
very suggestive of those offered up for the dead by the 
Roman church ; and to their minds such ceremonies savored 
strongly of heresy and superstition. A body was taken 
from the house to the grave, and interred without cere- 
mony ; and no religious services were held. Funeral prayers 
in New England were first made in the smaller towns be- 
fore they were in the larger places, though Chief-Justice 
Sewall, in his Diary (i. 93), under date of August 19, 1685, 
gives an early instance which happened at Roxbury. In 
describing the services he says that " Mr. Wilson prayed 
with the Company before they went to the Grave." Their 
introduction into Boston was of so uncommon occurrence 
that it caused some comment in a newspaper, as the follow- 
ing extract from " The Boston Weekly News-Letter, " De- 
cember 31, 1730, will show: — 

»9 



146 

Yesterday were Buried here the Remains of that truly 
honourable & devout Gentlewoman, Mrs. SARAH BYFIELD, 
amidst the affectionate Respects & Lamentations of a numer- 
ous Concourse. — Before carrying out the Corpse, a Funeral 
Prayer was made, by one of the Pastors of the Old Church, 
to whose Communion she belong'd ; which, tho' a Custom in 
the Country-Towns, is a singular Instance in this place, but 
it's wish'd may prove a leading Example to the general Prac- 
tice of so christian & decent a Custom. 

At a funeral the coffin was carried upon a bier to the 
place of interment by pall-bearers, who from time to time 
were relieved by others walking at their side. The bearers 
usually were kinsfolk or intimate friends of the deceased; 
and they were followed by the mourners and neighbors, 
who walked two by two. After the burial the bier was left 
standing over the grave ready for use when occasion should 
again require. 

Many years ago an old citizen of this town told me that 
once he served as a pall-bearer at the funeral of a friend 
who died in Squannacook Village (West Groton). It took 
place near midsummer, in very hot weather ; and he re- 
lated how the procession was obliged to halt often in order 
to give a rest to the bearers, who during their long march 
were nearly prostrated by the heat. 

Hearses were first introduced into Boston about 1796, 
and into Groton a few years later. In the warrant for the 
Groton town-meeting on April 4, 1803, Article No. 7 was 

To see if the town will provide a herse for the town's use, 
and give such directions about the same as they shall think fit. 

In the Proceedings of that meeting, after Article No. 7, 
it is recorded : — 

Voted that the town will provide a herse for the Town's 
use. 

Voted and chose James Brazer, Esq 1 " Jacob L. Parker, and 
Joseph SawU'll 3'. 1 a Committee and directed them to provide 
a decent herse at the Town's expence. 



147 

From the earliest period of our Colonial history training- 
days were appointed by the General Court for the drilling 
of soldiers; and at intervals the companies used to come 
together as a regiment and practise various military exer- 
cises. From this custom sprang the regimental muster, so 
common before the War of the Rebellion. 

During a long time, and particularly in the early part 
of the nineteenth century, many such musters were held 
here. A training-field often used for the purpose was the 
plain, situated near the Hollingsworth Paper-mills, a mile 
and a half northerly from the village. Sometimes they 
were held on the easterly side of the road, and at other 
times on the westerly side. During my boyhood musters 
took place, twice certainly, on the eastern slope of the hill 
on the south side of the Broad Meadow Road near Far- 
mers' Row ; and also, once certainly, in the field lying 
southeast of Lawrence Academy, near where Powder House 
Road now runs. 

Musters have been held on land back of the late Charles 
Jacobs's house, and, in the autumn of 1850, in a field near 
the dwelling where Benjamin Moors used to live, close by 
James's Brook, in the south part of the town. The last 
one in Groton, or the neighborhood even, took place on 
September 13 and 14, 1852, and was held in the south part 
of the town, near the line of the Fitchburg Railroad on its 
northerly side, some distance east of the station. This 
was a muster of the Fifth Regiment of Light Infantry, 
and occurred while Mr. Boutwell was Governor of the 
Commonwealth ; and I remember well the reception which 
he gave to the officers on the intervening evening at his 
house, built during the preceding year. 

Akin to the subject of military matters, was a custom 
which formerly prevailed in some parts of Massachusetts, 
and perhaps elsewhere, of celebrating occasionally the an- 
niversary of the surrender of Yorktown, which falls on 
October 19. Such a celebration was called a " Corn- 
wallis"; and it was intended to represent, in a burlesque 
manner, the siege of the town, as well as the ceremony of 



148 

its surrender. The most prominent generals on each side 
would be personated, while the men of the two armies 
would wear what was supposed to be their peculiar uni- 
form. I can recall now more than one such sham fight that 
took place in this town during my boyhood. In 10 Cushing, 
252, is to be found a decision of the Supreme Judicial 
Court of Massachusetts, enjoining a town treasurer from 
paying money that had been appropriated for such a 
celebration. 

James Russell Lowell, in his Glossary to " The Biglow 
Papers," thus defines the word : " Cornwallis, a sort of 
muster in masquerade; supposed to have had its origin 
soon after the Revolution, and to commemorate the sur- 
render of Lord Cornwallis. It took the place of the old 
Guy Fawkes procession." Speaking in the character of 
Hosea Biglow, he asks, 

Recollect wut fun we lied, you 'n' I an' Ezry Hollis 

Up there to Waltham plain last fall, along o' the Cornwallis? 

He further says in a note : " i hait the Sight of a feller 
with a muskit as I du pizn But their is fun to a cornwallis 
I aint agoin' to deny it." 

The last Cornwallis in this immediate neighborhood came 
off about sixty years ago at Pepperell ; and I remember 
witnessing it. Another Cornwallis on a large scale oc- 
curred at Clinton in the year 1853, in which nine uni- 
formed companies of militia, including the Groton Artil- 
lery, took part. On this occasion the burlesque display, 
both in numbers and details, far outshone all former at- 
tempts of a similar character, and. like the song of a swan, 
ended a custom that had come down from a previous cen- 
tury. At the present day nothing is left of this quaint 
celebration but a faded memory and an uncertain tradition. 

The first settlers of Massachusetts brought with them 
from England a good supply of seeds and stones of vari- 
ous fruits, grains, and vegetables, which were duly planted. 
In this way was begun the cultivation of apples, pears, 
peaches, plums, cherries, wheat, rye, barley, oats, beans, 



149 

peas, potatoes, hops, currants, etc., and in the course of 
a few years they raised fair crops of all these products. 

As early as 1660 all inn-holders and tavern-keepers were 
required to have a license in order to be allowed to carry 
on their business ; and they were obliged to be approbated 
by the selectmen of the town and to be licensed by the 
County Court. At the same time a restriction was placed 
on makers of cider, who were not allowed to sell by retail, 
except under certain conditions ; " and that it be only to 
masters of families of good and honest report, or persons 
going to Sea, and they suffer not any person to drink the 
same in their houses, cellars or yards." This reference, 
found in " The Book of the General Lawes and Libertyes " 
(Cambridge, 1660), shows that at an early date in the 
history of the Colony the prohibitory principle was recog- 
nized by legislative enactment, and that it is by no means 
a modern idea. The reference shows furthermore that 
cider was made by the settlers at an early period. Few 
persons of the rising generation are aware of the great 
quantities of cider made fifty or seventy-five years ago 
on almost every farm in an agricultural community. I 
am placing the estimate within moderate bounds when I 
say that every good-sized farm in Groton had an apple 
orchard and a cider mill on the premises. Many a farmer 
would make all the way from ten to thirty barrels of 
cider for home use, besides what he would sell elsewhere 
or make into vinegar; and this large stock was kept in 
the cellar. There are now in this audience men and women 
who remember how years ago they used to suck sweet cider 
through a long rye straw, as it ran from the press. At 
such times the children were often as thick as honey bees 
round the bung-hole of a hogshead of molasses in summer 
time. 

Many plants were brought originally to New England 
from other countries for their medicinal virtues, and many 
were introduced by chance. Some have multiplied so rapidly 
and grown so plentifully in the fields and by the roadside, 
that they are now considered common weeds. Wormwood, 



i=;o 



tansy, chamomile, yarrow, dandelion, burdock, plantain, cat- 
nip, and mint all came here by importation. These exotic 
plants made their way into the interior, as fast as civiliza- 
tion extended in that direction ; though in some instances 
the seeds may have been carried by birds in their flight. 

Dr. William Douglass, in " A Summary, Historical and 
Political, of the first Planting, progressive Improvements, 
and present State of the British Settlements in North 
America," published at Boston (Volume I. in the year 
1749, and Volume II. in 1753), says: — 

Near Boston and other great Towns, some Field Plans which 
accidentally have been imported from Europe, spread much, 
and are a great Nusance in Pastures, ... at present they have 
spread Inland from Boston, about 30 Miles (ii. 207). 

According to this statement, the pioneers of some of 
these foreign plants or weeds had already reached the 
township of Groton near the middle of the eighteenth cen- 
tury. Dr. Douglass gives another fact about the town 
which may be worthy of preservation, as follows : — 

There are some actual Surveys of Extents which ought not 
to be lost in Oblivion ; as for Instance, from Merrimack River 
due West to Groton Meeting-House are 12 miles; from Groton 
Meeting House (as surveyed by Col. Stoddard, Major FulJiam, 
and Mr. Dwight, by Order of the General Assembly) to North- 
field Meeting-House W. 16 d. N. by Compass, are 41 Miles 
and half (i. 425 note). 

Such surveys, as those given in this extract, before the 
days of railroads were of more interest to the public than 
they are now; but, as the author says, they " ought not to 
be lost in Oblivion." 

The greatest advance in social and moral life during the 
last one hundred and twenty-five years has been in the 
cause of temperance. Soon after the period of the Revo- 
lution there arose an abuse of spirituous liquors, perhaps 
induced in part by the return home of young men from the 



i5i 

army, who while absent had acquired the habit of drinking 
to excess. There was no public occasion, from a wedding 
to a funeral, or from the ordination of a minister to the 
raising of a house or barn, when rum in its many Protean 
shapes was not given out. It was set on the festive side- 
board, and used freely both by the old and young; and 
sometimes even the pastor of the church yielded to the in- 
sidious seduction of the stimulant. Liquors were sold at 
retail at most of the trading-shops in town, and at the three 
taverns in the village. The late Elizur Wright, an emi- 
nent statistician, and nearly eighty years ago a resident 
of Groton, once told me in writing that, according to an 
estimate made by him at that period, the amount of New 
England rum sold here in one year was somewhat over 
28,000 gallons. This quantity applied to rum only, — at 
that time the common tipple in the average country village, 
— and did not include other alcoholic stimulants. The 
amount was not a guess on his part, but was taken from 
the books of dealers in the fluid, who had kindly complied 
with his request for the amount of their sales during the 
previous year; though it should be added that some of the 
buyers lived in neighboring towns. Ex pede Hercidem. 
We judge of the whole from the specimen. 

It is generally supposed that the huge department stores 
in the large cities are a modern institution, so far as they 
relate to the variety of articles sold; but in this respect 
they are only an imitation of the old-time country store. 
Fifty years ago the average trading-shop kept about every- 
thing that was sold, from a pin to a plough, from silks and 
satins to stoves and shovels, and from tea and coffee to 
tin dippers and cotton drilling, flour, all kinds of dry-goods 
and groceries, molasses, raisins, bricks, cheese, hats, nails, 
sperm oil, grindstones, boots and shoes, drugs and medi- 
cines, to say nothing of a supply of confectionery for chil- 
dren ; besides a daily barter of any of the aforesaid articles 
for butter and fresh eggs. The traders were omnivorous 
in their dealings, and they kept on hand nearly everything 
that was asked for by the customers. In this respect they 



1^2 



have set an example to the proprietors of department stores, 
who offer for sale an equally miscellaneous assortment of 
goods. 

Within the last three-quarters of a century, perhaps the 
most useful invention given to mankind, certainly one very 
widely used, has been the common friction match. Ap- 
parently it is so trifling and inconspicuous that among the 
great discoveries of the nineteenth century it is likely to be 
overlooked. This little article is so cheap that no hovel 
or hamlet throughout Christendom is ever without it, and 
yet so useful that it is found in every house or mansion, 
no matter how palatial, and in every vessel that sails the 
sea. Bunches of matches are made by the millions and bil- 
lions, and broad acres of forests are cut down each year 
to supply the wood ; and in every home they are used with- 
out regard to waste or economy. " No correct statistics 
of match making can be given, but it has been estimated 
that six matches a day for each individual of the population 
of Europe and North America is the average consumption." 
(The American Cyclopaedia, New York, 1883.) Perhaps 
no other invention of the last century comes so nearly in 
touch with the family and household in all parts of the 
civilized world as this necessity of domestic life. 

I have mentioned these facts in some detail as the fric- 
tion match has had such a close connection with country 
life in New England, as elsewhere. In early days when 
fire was kept on the domestic hearth, from month to month 
and from year to year, by covering up live coals with ashes, 
sometimes from one cause or another it would go out ; and 
then it was necessary to visit a neighbor to " borrow fire," 
as the expression was. If the distance was short, live coals 
might be brought on a shovel; but if too far, a lighted 
candle could be carried in a tin lantern and would furnish 
the needed flame. Often a flint-and-steel was used for 
striking fire, but sometimes even this useful article was 
wanting. I have heard of instances where a man would 
fire off a gun into a wad of tow and set it on fire, and 
thus get the desired spark to start the blaze. 



153 

Another invention, which has come into general use 
within the last sixty years, and has changed the destinies 
of the world, is Morse's electric telegraph. In the sending 
of messages it practically annihilates space, and has worked 
wonders in science and in the every-day affairs of life. By 
means of it the words of Puck become a reality when he 
says: 

I '11 put a girdle round about the Earth 
In forty minutes. 

If the ocean telegraph had been in operation at that time, 
the battle of New Orleans, on January 8, 1815, would not 
have been fought. It took place a fortnight after the treaty 
of peace had been signed at Ghent, though the tidings of 
the treaty were not received in this country until a month 
after the action. The chances are that Andrew Jackson 
would never have been President of the United States if 
he had not gained that battle ; nor would Martin Van Buren 
have succeeded to the same high office if as Secretary of 
State or as Vice-President he had not been associated with 
Jackson. This will serve as an illustration of the influence 
which the telegraph may have on human affairs. 

Little short of fifty years ago I spent an evening with 
Professor Morse at his rooms in Paris, and he told me a 
thrilling tale of the circumstances which led up to his great 
discovery of the application of electricity to the sending of 
messages; and how the thought first came to him many 
years before, when in a packet ship on the voyage from 
Havre to New York. I have often regretted that I did 
not then write down at once my recollections of the visit, 
while they were fresh in memory ; but unfortunately I did 
not do so. 

A telegraph office in this village was opened on Saturday, 
March 20, 1880, and the first message along its wires was 
sent to Nashua, New Hampshire. The office was in the 
railway station, where it has since remained. 

The telephone office here was first opened on Friday, 
April 29, 1881, in the building at the south corner of Main 



154 

Street and Station Avenue, where it still remains; and 
there are now more than one hundred and twenty sub- 
scribers to the line, who in the ordinary activities of life 
use the modern method of talking with their unseen 
friends. 

By the side of the investigations connected with this 
address I am reminded that the First Parish Meeting-house 
is now one hundred and fifty years old. During one half 
of this period it was the only designated place of worship 
within the limits of the town ; and for these seventy-five 
years it was the centre of the religious life of the people. 
From its walls went forth all the efforts that made for the 
highest and noblest traits of human nature. It was the 
fourth meeting-house used by the town, and stands on the 
site of the third building, a spot which was by no means 
the unanimous choice of the town when that structure was 
built; and the usual controversy then took place over the 
site. It was begun in 17 14, and was two years in process 
of building. In early times there was always much con- 
tention in regard to the local position of the house, some 
wanting it put in one place, and others in another, accord- 
ing to the convenience of their respective families. Mr. 
Butler, in his History of Groton, says : " But the momen- 
tous affairs of deciding upon a spot on which to set a public 
building, and choosing and settling a minister, are not 
usually accomplished without much strife and contention, 
and are sometimes attended with long and furious quar- 
rels and expensive lawsuits" (p. 306). The Reverend 
Joseph Emerson, the first minister of Groton West Parish, 
now known as Pepperell, explains the cause thus : " It hath 
been observed that some of the hottest contentions in this 
land hath been about settling of ministers and building 
meeting-houses; and what is the reason? The devil is a 
great enemy to settling ministers and building meeting- 
houses; wherefore he sets on his own children to work 
and make difficulties, and to the utmost of his power stirs 
up the corruptions of the children of God in some way to 
oppose or obstruct so good a work." 



155 

With no desire on my part to dispute Mr. Emerson's 
theory in regard to this matter, I think that the present 
generation would hardly accept his explanation as the cor- 
rect one. 

For some months, perhaps for one or two years, before 
the present house of worship was built, the question of a 
new structure was considered and discussed at town- 
meetings. It was then in the air, and finally the matter 
took concrete shape. On May 6, 1754, the town made 
definite plans for a raising of the frame; and on such 
occasions at that period of time rum was supposed to be 
needed, not only to bring together a crowd to help along 
the work, but also to give strength to the workers. At 
that meeting the following vote was passed : — 

at a Legal meeting of the Inhabitants at Groton qualleyfied 
by Law for voting in Town affairs assembled Chose Cap* 
bancroft moderator for s d meeting 

The question was put which way they would face the 
meetinghouse and the major vote was for facing s d house to 
the west 

Voted that The meeting house Com tee prouide one hogshead 
of Rum one Loaf of white Shuger one quarter of a hundread 
of brown Shugar also voted that Deacon Stone Deacon farwell 
Lt Isaac woods benje Stone Lt John Woods Cap 4 Sam 11 Tar- 
bell Amos Lawrence Ensign Obadiah Parker Cap fc bancroft 
be a Com tee and to prouide Victuals and Drink for a hundread 
men and If the people Dont subscribe anough then the Com tee 
to purchas the Remainder up on the Towns Cost. 

Voted that The Com tee that Got the Timber for The meet- 
ing house haue Liberty with such as shall subscribe thear to 
to build a porch at the front Dore of the meeting house up 
on their own Cost 

Then voted that the Select men prouide some Conuiant place 
to meet in upon the Sabbath Till further order. 

According to Joseph Farwell's note-book the raising took 
place on May 22, 1754, — which day fell on Wednesday, — 
and lasted until Saturday, May 25. It is to be hoped that 
during these three days no accident happened on account 
of the liquid stimulant. Probably the work on the build- 



156 

ing was pushed with all the speed then possible and avail- 
able; and, probably too, it was used for worship long be- 
fore it was finished. During this period of interruption in 
the public services it is very likely that the Sunday meet- 
ings were held at the house of the minister, Mr. Trowbridge, 
who then lived near the site of the present High School 
building. 

According to Farwell's note-book, on August 18, 1754, 
Mrs. Sarah Dickinson became a member of the church, the 
first person so admitted in the new meeting-house. She 
was the widow of James Dickinson, who had died only 
a few weeks before, and was buried in the old graveyard. 
According to the same authority, the sacrament of the 
Lord's Supper was administered in the new building for 
the first time on November 15, 1754. 

The early settlers did not believe much in outward cere- 
mony; and the new meeting-house was never formally 
dedicated by a special service. Perhaps, when the house 
was first opened for worship, Mr. Trowbridge preached a 
sermon in keeping with the occasion ; and very likely in his 
prayer he made some allusion to the event. We are told 
that the prayer of the righteous man availeth much. The 
homage paid to the Creator of the universe each Sunday, 
both by the pulpit and the pews, would consecrate any such 
structure to its high purpose. Simple in their religious 
faith, the worshippers had no use for ecclesiastical forms. 
Not alone by their words, but by their thoughts, they dedi- 
cated the meeting-house. Sometimes words not spoken have 
more meaning than those which are uttered. 

The Common, in front of the present meeting-house, was 
a place closely connected with the life of the town. Here 
at an early period the two militia companies used to meet 
and drill at regular times, known as training-days. On the 
Common the two companies of minute-men rallied on the 
morning of that eventful nineteenth of April, and received 
their ammunition from the town's stock, which was stored 
in the Powder-house near by. Here they took farewell of 
friends and families, knowing full well the responsible 



157 

duties that rested on their shoulders, and the dangers that 
threatened them. These men marched hence on that memo- 
rable day as British subjects, but they came back as in- 
dependent citizens who never knew again the authority of 
a king. 

In that house Mr. Dana, a young and rising lawyer of 
Groton, pronounced a eulogy on General Washington, 
which was delivered on Saturday, February 22, 1800, a 
few weeks after his death. The military companies of 
the town attended the exercises. Miss Elizabeth Farns- 
worth (1791-1884) as a little girl was present on the 
occasion, and Mrs. Sarah (Capell) Gilson (1793-1890), 
though not present at the exercises, remembered the event ; 
and they both gave me their faint recollections of the day. 

The meeting-house was remodelled in the year 1839, 
when it was partially turned round, and the north end of 
the building made the front, facing the west, as it now 
stands. Formerly the road to the easterly part of the town 
went diagonally across the Common, and passed down the 
hill to the south of the meeting-house; and there was no 
highway on the north side. Before this change in the build- 
ing was made, the town-meetings were always held in the 
body of the house; and the voting was done in front of 
the pulpit. In my mind's eye I can see now the old 
pulpit, with the sounding-board overhead, which I well 
remember. 

The town-clock in the steeple, so familiar to every man, 
woman, and child in Groton, was made by James Ridg- 
way, and placed in the tower some time during the spring 
of 1809. It was paid for in part by the town, and in 
part by private subscription. Mr. Ridgway was a silver- 
smith and a clock-maker, who during the war with Eng- 
land (1812-1815) carried on a large business in this 
neighborhood. He afterward removed to Keene, New 
Hampshire, where he lived for many years. His shop was 
situated on Main Street, nearly opposite to the Groton 
Inn, but it disappeared a long time ago. 



158 

The bell of the meeting-house was cast in the year 1819 
by Revere and Son, Boston, and, according to the inscrip- 
tion, weighs 1 128 pounds. 

On this interesting occasion we are all glad to have 
present with us the venerable Zara Patch, a native of 
Groton and the oldest inhabitant of the town. His an- 
cestry in both branches of the family runs back nearly to 
the beginning of the settlement, and in his person is rep- 
resented some of the best blood of old Groton stock ; and 
we welcome him at this time. He is the last survivor of 
nineteen citizens who signed the call for the due observ- 
ance of the bi-centennial anniversary, on October 31, 1855, 
which was issued in the preceding May. 

Fifty years ago the town had a celebration of the two- 
hundredth anniversary of its settlement, similar to the one 
we are now holding. On that occasion Governor Boutwell 
was President of the day, and the Reverend Arthur Buck- 
minster Fuller, a younger brother of Margaret Fuller, — 
of a family once resident here, — made the historical ad- 
dress, which was delivered in the Congregational Meeting- 
house. Colonel Eusebius Silsby Clark, who lost his life 
in the War of the Rebellion, at Winchester, Virginia, on 
October 17, 1864, was the Chief Marshal. Of his six aids 
on that day John Warren Parker and myself are the sole 
survivors, and the only representatives of those who had 
an official connection with the exercises; and now we are 
left the last two leaves on the branch. At that celebration 
Mr. Parker was also one of the Committee of Arrange- 
ments; and we are all glad to see him present on this 
occasion. 

Groton is a small town, but there are those who love 
her and cherish her good name and fame. She has been 
the mother of many a brave son and many a fair daugh- 
ter, dutiful children who through generations "arise up 
and call her blessed." She is the Mount Zion of a large 
household. Of her numerous family, from the nursling 
to the aged, by her example she lias spared no pains to 
make them useful citizens and worthy members of society. 



159 

In former years she was relatively a much more important 
town than she is now. At the time of the first national 
census in 1790, in population Groton was the second town 
in Middlesex County, Cambridge alone surpassing it. In 
order to learn the true value of some communities, and 
to give the inhabitants of Groton their proper rank, they 
should be weighed and not counted; and by this standard 
it will be found that the town has not lost even in rela- 
tive importance. Bigness and greatness by no means are 
synonymous words, and in their significance there is a wide 
difference. In all our thoughts and all our deeds, let us 
do as well by the town as she has done by us. 

Fellow Townsmen and Neighbors, — the stint you set 
me is now done. On my part it has proved to be not a 
task, but a labor of love. If anything that I may have 
said shall spur others to study the history of an old town 
that was typical of life among plain folk in the early days 
of New England, and one that has left an honorable record 
during the various periods of its existence, my aim will 
have been reached. 



APPENDIX 



APPENDIX 

The Name of G? r oton 

I am indebted to the courtesy of Dr. Edward Mussey 
Hartwell for the following- paper on the origin of the name 
of Groton. From any other source I could not have ob- 
tained such a scholarly essay on the subject ; and it places 
me under great obligations to him. Dr. Hartwell passed 
his boyhood in Littleton, where his father's family be- 
longed; and he fitted for college mostly at Lawrence 
Academy, so that he has inherited an historical interest in 
the neighborhood. 

Statistics Department. 
Boston, July 3, 1905. 

Hon. Samuel A. Green, Librarian, 

Massachusetts Historical Society. 

Dear Dr. Green, — What follows contains the gist of my 
notes on Groton. For the sake of conciseness and brevity, I 
forbear ( 1 ) from fully describing the sources whence my cita- 
tions are derived, and (2) from quotation of authorities re- 
garding the linguistic affinities of the components of the word 
Groton. However, I may say that I can support every state- 
ment by documentary evidence that seems conclusive to me. 

Groton occurs as a place name both in England and the 
United States. Groton in England, which is situated in the 
County of Suffolk, appears to be a small parish of some 1560 
acres, of which 39 are in common. The " Dictionnaire des 
Bureaux de Poste " published at Berne in 1895, gives six post- 
offices in various parts of the United States having the name 
of Groton. Two of them, viz., Groton, Massachusetts, and 
Groton, Connecticut, date from Colonial times, i. e., from 1655 
and 1705 respectively, and numbered among their original 
grantees or proprietors members of the Winthrop family whose 
ancestral seat was Groton in the Babenberg Hundred, County 
Suffolk, England, whence it is reasonable to suppose all Grotons 
in this country have derived their name. Among them Groton, 
Mass., is the most ancient. The name (spelt Groat en) appears 



i6 4 

in a vote of the General Court dated May 29, 1655, to grant 
a new plantation at Petapawag to Mr. Deane Winthrop and 
others. In later records of the General Court, e. g., May 26, 
1658, the form Groten appears; and in the same records under 
date of November 12, 1659, both Groten and Groat en appear. 

The Manor of Groton in Babenberg Hundred in the Liberty 
of St. Edmund and the County of Suffolk, England, according 
to the Domesday Book ( 1086) belonged to the Abbey of Bury 
St. Edmund's in the time of Edward the Confessor (1042- 
1065). In 1544 the request of Adam Wynthorpe to purchase 
" the Farm of the Manor of Groton (Suffolk) late of the Mon- 
astery of Bury St. Edmund's " was granted by Henry VIII. 
(into whose hands it had come when the monasteries were sup- 
pressed) for the sum of £408. 1 8s. 3d. Governor John Win- 
throp, grandson of Adam Wynthorpe, was Lord of the Manor 
of Groton in 1618. In 1630 or 1 63 1 he sold his interest therein 
for £4,200. I find the name of this manor spelt variously at 
different times as follows : 

1. Gxotcna (a) in Domesday Book in 1086. 

(b) in Jocelin de Brakelond's Chronicle in 1200. 

(c) in the Hundred Rolls in 1277. 

2. Groton (a) in Joe. de Brakelond about 1200. 

(b) in the Patent Rolls, 1291 and 1298. 

3. Grotona in Joe. de Brakelond about 1200. 

4. Groton (a) in Joe. de Brakelond about 1200. 

(b) in the Patent Rolls in 1423. 

(c) in Dugdale's citation of a MS. of 1533. 

5. Groton (a) in Dugdale's citation of a MS. of 14th 

Century, 
(b) in Records of the Augmentation Office, 1541 

and 1544. 
Jocelin de Brakelond was a monk of Bury St. Edmund's 
who, as Chaplain of the Abbot, wrote the Chronicle which bears 
his name. It covers the period 1 173-1203, i. e., the incumbency 
of Abbot Samson. The frequent mention of Groton in this 
Chronicle, written just at the beginning of the thirteenth cen- 
tury, may be accounted for by the fact that the Abbey and cer- 
tain claimants named de Cokefeld had a law-suit over lands at 
Groton. 

Since 1541 Groton appears to have been the form of the name 
of the English manor, parish or hamlet. It may be remarked: 
( 1 ) that " de Grotena " is found as a personal name in the 
Hundred Rolls, 1297; and " de Grotton " in the Scotch Rolls, 
1327; while a holding named Grotton, " late of the Monastery 



i65 

of Delacres in Staffordshire," is mentioned in the records of 
the Augmentation Office, 1547; and Grotton, a railway station 
in Lancashire, is mentioned in a " Comprehensive Gazetteer of 
England and Wales," a recent but undated work. 

The Latinized " in Grotena " and " Grotenam " of the Domes- 
day Book give rise to the suggestion that Grotcn has the force 
of an adjective (meaning gravelly, gritty, stony or sandy), 
which served to characterize a tract of land, or perhaps a hill, 
a pit, a ham, or a ton. I take grot to be one form of the Old 
English greot, grut (Middle English, greet, gret, and Modern 
English, grit), meaning gravel. 

The following is a series of forms in which variants of greot 
seem to have an adjectival force: 

(1) Greotan edesces lond, relating to land in Kent, in a charter 

dated 822. Possibly greotan may stand for greatan, 
meaning big. 

(2) G/v/f/zlinkes, in Hampshire, in a land charter of 966. 

(3) Grctindun (later Gretton in Dorsetshire), mentioned in a 

charter of 1019. 

(4) Gretenhowe, the name of Gretna in Scotland, in 1376. 

(5) Grotintune, a manor in Shropshire, Domesday Book, 1086. 

(6) Gratenton (?), a manor in Berkshire, Domesday Book, 

1086. 
On the other hand, the form Greotan may be the dative plural 
of greot (for greotitmf) used in a locative sense "at the 
gravels," since Gravelai and Gravclei occur as place names in 
Domesday Book and Gravell occurs in the Hundred Rolls, 
temp. Edw. I. 

The following scheme, derived from various standard lexi- 
cons, exhibits the etymological affinities of Greot (grit) : 

Old Middle Modem 

Saxon Griot, griet, cf. English and cf. English, German 

greot, German, and Norse. 

English Greot, grut, Greot, Greet, Grit, grot, grout. 

grot, grit, gryt, gret, 

High German Grioz, Griesz, Gries, Gruse, Graus. 

Norse: 
Icelandic Gr]6t (griot), Grjot Grjot, Gryttn. 

Danish and 

Norwegian Grjot, Grjot, Gryt (e), Gruus, Grus, Gryttn. 
Swedish Grus, Grytt. 

Old Frisian gret. 
Low German grott. 



1 66 



Grot, for greot, appears to be an old and rather rare form. 
It should be stated that British place (and personal) names 
having- Gret are much more numerous than those having Grot 
in the first syllable. Gretton is the name of several manors men- 
tioned in Domesday, e.g., the present Girton (formerly called 
Gritton) (cf. Girton College), near Cambridge (Cambs.) and 
Gretton in Northamptonshire, still called Gretton. The last 
was Gretton (gryttune in 1060), Greton in 1086, Gretton in 
1277, 1678, and 1895. 

Other forms besides Gretton are : Gret-a = Gritwater, a 
stream in Cumberland, cf. Greta-marsc (= Grit-water-marsh?), 
821; Greta-bridge = Gritwater bridge, Gret-ford, Gret-ham, 
Gret-land, Gret-well. Southey, the poet, lived at Greta Hall. 

Greta river in Cumberland had its counterpart in Grjotd, in 
the eleventh century in Iceland, translated Gritwater by Dasent 
in "The Burnt Nidi." Gryttnbakki = Gravel hill or Gravel 
bank, is the name of ( I ) a modern post-office in Iceland and 
(2) another in Denmark. Grytten is a place name of today in 
Norway. 

The Icelandic (Old Norse) Gr jot-garth meant stone fence. 
Akin to garth (gard) are the Norwegian gaard and Swedish 
gard, a landed estate or homestead ; and the English Cloister- 
garth, yard, garden, and orchard (ort-geard). 

Ton in Groton, Boston, etc., is related to M. E. Ton (Tone), 
O. E. tun, tune, O. Norse tun, O. Frisian tun, O. H. German 
taun, and German zaun, a hedge or fence. Ton and tun origi- 
nally meaning an enclosing hedge or fence, meant also, field, 
yard, manor, hamlet, village and town or city. 

Garth (yard) presents a parallel series of similar meanings, 
e. g., O. Norse for Constantinople was Myckel-gaard, i. e., the 
Great City. 

I think that Groton stands for Grot-ton (cf. Gretton, Grit- 
ton) and is practically equivalent to the Icelandic Gr jot-garth, 
and that your suggestion in 1876 as to the meaning of Groton 
was a happy one. Florcat Grotena! 

Yours faithfully, 

Edward M. Hartwell. 



167 



List of Indian Words 

The following Indian names, applied by the early settlers 
to streams, ponds, or places, in the original township of 
Groton and neighborhood, for the most part are still in 
common use. The spelling of these words varies, as at first 
they were written according to their sound and not ac- 
cording to their derivation. In the absence of any correct 
standard either of spelling or pronunciation, which always 
characterizes an unwritten language, the words have be- 
come so twisted and distorted that much of their original 
meaning is lost; but their root generally remains. It is 
rare to find an Indian word in an early document spelled 
twice alike. In the lapse of time these verbal changes have 
been so great that an Indian now would hardly recognize 
any of them by sound. Even with all these drawbacks such 
words furnish one of the few links in a chain of historical 
facts connecting modern times with the prehistoric period 
of New England. As the shards that lie scattered around 
the site of old Indian dwellings are eagerly picked up by 
the archaeologist for critical examination, so these isolated 
facts about place-names are worth saving by the antiquary 
for their philological value. " Gather up the fragments that 
remain, that nothing be lost." 

Babbitassct — formerly the name of a village in Pepperell, now 

included in East Pepperell. 
Baddacook — a pond in the eastern part of the town. 
Catacoonamug — a stream in Shirley, which empties into the 

Nashua. 
Chicopee — a district in the northerly part of the town, and 

applied to the highway approaching it, called Chicopee Row. 
Humhazv — a brook in Westford. 
Kissacook — a hill in Westford. 
Massapoag — a pond lying partly in Groton and partly in 

Dunstable. 



1 68 



Mulpus — a brook in Shirley. 

Nagog — a pond in Littleton. 

Nashoba — the old name of the Praying Indian village in Lit- 
tleton, now applied to a hill in that town as well as to a brook 
in Westford. 

Nashua — a river running through the township, and empty- 
ing into the Merrimack. 

Naumox — a district, near the Longley monument, lying west 
of the East Pepperell road ; said to have been the name of 
an Indian chief. 

Nissitissct — applied to the neighborhood of Hollis, New 
Hampshire, and to a river and a hill in Pepperell. 

Nonacoiats — a brook in Aver, though formerly the name was 
applied to a tract of land in the southerly part of Groton, 
and is shortened often to Coicus. 

Nubanussuck — a pond in Westford. 

Petaupaitkctt — a name found in the original petition to the 
General Court for the grant of the town, and used in con- 
nection with the territory of the neighborhood ; sometimes 
writen Petapawage and Petapaway. 

Quosopoiiagou — a meadow "on the other side of the riuer," 
mentioned in the land-grant of Thomas Tarbell, Jr. ; the 
same word as Quasaponikin, formerly the name of a tract 
of land in Lancaster, but now given to a meadow and a hill 
in that town, where it is often contracted into Ponikin. 

Shabikin, or more commonly Shabokin, applied to a district in 
Harvard, bordering on the Nashua, below Still River village. 

Squatmacook — a river in the western part of the town flowing 
into the Nashua ; a name formerly applied to the village of 
West Groton. 

Tadmuck — a brook and a meadow in Westford. 

Unquctenassctt, or Unquctcnorsct — a brook in the northerly 
part of the town ; often shortened into Unquety. 

Waubausconcctt — another word found in the original petition 
for the grant of the town, and used in connection with the 
territory of the neighborhood. 



169 



List of Towns 

established in the two Colonies, before the township of Groton 
was granted in 1655, together with the year when they are first 
mentioned in the records of the General Court. 



PLYMOUTH COLONY. 



I 


1620 


Plymouth 


2 


'633 


Scituate 


3 


1637 


Duxbury 


4 


1638 


Barnstable 


5 


a 


Sandwich 


6 


1639 


Yarmouth 



7 


1639 


Taunton 


8 


1641 


Marshfield 


9 


1643 


Eastham 


10 


1645 


Rehoboth 


11 


1652 


Dartmouth 



MASSACHUSETTS-BAY COLONY. 



I 


1630 


Charlestown 


!9 


1640 


Braintree 


2 


U 


Salem 


20 


« 


Salisbury 


3 


i( 


Boston 


21 


1641 


Haverhill 


4 


tt 


Dorchester 


22 


" 


Springfield 


5 


" 


Watertown 


2 3 


1642 


Gloucester 


6 


it 


Medford 


24 


" 


Woburn 


7 


" 


Roxbury 


25 


1643 


Wenham 


8 


1631 


Lynn 


26 


1644 


Hull 


9 


" 


Cambridge 


27 


" 


Reading 


10 


1633 


Marblehead 


28 


1645 


Manchester 


11 


1634 


Ipswich 


29 


1646 


Andover 


12 


163S 


Newbury 


30 


1648 


Topsfield 


13 


" 


Hingham 


31 


1649 


Maiden 


14 


it 


Weymouth 


32 


1650 


Medfield 


15 


" 


Concord 


33 


1653 


Lancaster 


16 


1636 


Dedham 


34 


May, 1655 


Groton 


17 


1639 


Rowley 


35 


a tt 


Billerica 


18 


" 


Sudbury 


36 


u « 


Chelmsford 



170 



Distinguished Citizens 

Among the distinguished men who have made their homes 
in the town of Groton are two Governors of the Common- 
wealth, one United States Senator, four other members of 
Congress, beside a Delegate to the Continental Congress, two 
members of the President's Cabinet, an Assistant Secretary of 
State, various Justices and Chief-Justices of different Courts, 
three Speakers of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, 
an xAitorney-General of the Commonwealth, a President of the 
State Senate, and three members of the Executive Council. 



English Oaks 

I have on my place at Groton four oak saplings growing from 
acorns sent me, in the autumn of 1904, from Groton, England. 
They are to-day rather small specimens of what they may 
become, if they live to maturity. When they are of suitable 
size, it is my intention to have them transplanted in some 
spots closely associated with the history of the town. It is 
hoped that thus they will tend to foster and keep alive an 
interest between the English Groton and its namesake here, 
— places connected by sentiment, though separated in age by 
centuries of time and in distance by thousands of miles. 

Together with the acorns some beech-nuts also were sent 
me from the manor of Groton, which were duly planted, but 
the saplings died the second year. Several small elms came in 
the same collection, but none of them outlived the removal. 



i7i 




Town Seal 



This design of a seal for the town of Groton was adopted 
on April 4, 1898. It is a simple one, and is intended to typify 
the character of the inhabitants. 

The Bible represents the faith of the early settlers who went 
into the wilderness and suffered innumerable privations in 
their daily life as well as encountered many dangers from 
savage foes. Throughout Christendom to-day it is the corner- 
stone of religion and morality. 

The Plough is significant of the general occupation of the 
inhabitants. By it the early settlers broke up the land and 
earned their livelihood ; and ever since in the tillage of the 
soil it has been an invaluable help to their successors. 



172 




First Parish Meeting-House, Groton 



This cut, taken from a drawing made in the year 1838, by 
John Warner Barber, originally appeared in his Historical 
Collections of Massachusetts (Worcester, 1839). It represents 
the First Parish Meeting-house before it was remodelled in 
1839, when it was partially turned round, and the north end 
made the front, facing the west. The Academy building, on 
the right of the meeting-house, was enlarged in the autumn 
of 1846, and subsequently burned on July 4, 1868. The fence 
was built round the Common in front of the meeting-house, 
in the autumn of 1842, the last post being placed at the 
northwest corner on October 3 of that year. 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Abenaqui Indians, the, 36, 37, 104. 

Acadia, 51. 

Acadians in Groton, 51. 

Ahasombamet, 101. 

Albany, N. Y., 47, 109, no, 126. 

Allen/Timothy, 81, 85, 86, 87, 89. 

Almack, Richard, 138. 

Almy, Job, 46. 

Amarascoggin, 101. 

Ames, Jacob, 49, 113. 

, John, 49, 113. 

, name of, 50. 

Amherst, N. H.^ 56, 57, 61. 

Amsaquonte, 100, 101. 

Andros, Edmund, governor of New 

England, 123. 
Androscoggin, 41. 
Archives of the Marine and Colonies, 

the, 96. 
Assacombuit, 100. See also Nassa- 

combewit. 
Augary, John. See Longley, John. 
Austen, Sir Henry E., 138. 
Ayer, Mass., 133, 168. 

Baldwin, Marvin Morse, 143. 

Bambazeen (Bomaseen), 99, 101, 102. 

Bancroft, Capt. Benjamin, 155. 

, Lieut., 39. 

, name of, 50. 

Baptist Meeting-house (Groton), 30, 
60, 92, 98. 

Barber, John W., his "Historical Col- 
lections of Massachusetts," 172. 

Barnstable, Mass., 74, 169. 

Barron, Ellis, 79, 87, 89. 

Bay, the, road to, ^^, 71. 

Belcher, Gov. Jonathan, 46, 109, 128. 

Belknap, Rev. Jeremy, quoted, 58. 

Bellevue, Ohio, 142. 

Berwick, Me., 35. 

Bigelow, Hon. Timothy, 57. 

Billerica, Mass., ^,^, 122, 169. 

Blanchard family, the, 62. 

Blood, James, 112. 

, John, 15. 

, Joseph, 22. 

, name of, 18. 

, Richard, 15, 72, 74, 77, 86, 89, 91. 

, Robert, 15. 



Bonat, Marguerite, 108. 

"Book of the General Lawes and 
Libertyes," the, 149. 

Boston, 14, 22, 25, 29, 30, 31, 34, 46, 
47> 5 2 > 6l > 95> 9 8 , 145. J 46, 150, 169; 
census returns, 12; early route from 
Groton, ^^; correspondence between 
Overseers and Groton, 53-54; stage- 
coach line to Groton, 60. 

"Boston News-Letter, " the, quoted, 

41, 145- 

Boston Public Library, the, 94. 
Boutwell, Governor, 71, 81, 119, 120, 

147, 158. 
Bowers, Capt. Jerathmel, 44. 
Boxford, England, 138, 139. 
Boydon, Thomas, 87. 
Boynton, John, 122. 
Bradstreet, Lieut. Dudley, 51. 

, Rev. Dudley, 44, 50, 51, 123. 

, Simon, 123. 

Brakelond, Jocelin de, 164. 
Brattle, William, 97. 

, Thomas, 25. 

Brattleborough, Vt., 51. 

Brazer, James, 146. 

"Brief History of the Warr with the 

Indians in New-England," Mather's, 

3°- 
Broad Meadow (Groton), 28, 147. 
Brookfield, Mass., 24. 
Brookline, N. H., 130. 
Brown, killed by Indians, 44. 
Browne, Benjamin, 46. 
Buffalo, N. Y., 126. 
Bulkley, John, 56. 

Bunker Hill, the battle of, 58, 106, 107. 
Butler, Caleb, 62; his "History," 15, 

42, 62, 71, 99, 154. 
Butterfield, Samuel, 43, 44, 99. 
Byfield, Mrs. Sarah, 146. 

Cagnawaga Indians, the, 109. 

Caille, M., 105. 

Cambridge, 17, 29, 55, 58, 106, 159, 

169. 
Canada, 35, 36, 37, 38, 44, 45. 47. 5°> 

61, 100, 101, 103, 107, 108, 109, no, 

JI 3- 
Carlor [Kerley], Lieut. Henry, 94. 



i/6 



Cary, Mathew, 38. 

Casco, Me., 35. 

Casco Bay, 38, 100. 

Caughnawaga, 47, 48, 109, 111. 

Century, a, why celebrated, n. 

Chamberlain, John, 50. 

Champigny, 96. 

Chaplin, Rev. Daniel, 56, 59, 143. 

Chaplin Schoolhouse (Groton), the, 

72, 107. 
Charles I, charters of, 122, 12^;, 127, 

128. 
Charles X., in. 
Charles River, 14, 126. 
Charlestown, Mass., 32, 58, 169. 

, N. H., 51. 

Charlevoix, 36, 96, 98. 

Charters of Massachusetts, 122-123, 

126, 127, 128, 129. 
Chelmsford, Mass., 33, 42, 44, 122, 

135, 136, 169. 
Chicopee Row (Groton), 98, 167. 
Chubbuck, John, 35. 
Clark, Col. Eusebius Silsby, 158. 
Clary, John, 74. 
Clinton, Mass., 148. 
Cobbet, Rev. Thomas, 94. 
Cockermouth. See Groton, N. H. 
Coleman, Thomas, 56. 
"Columbian Centinel," the, 60. 
Commission to establish line between 

Massachusetts and New Hampshire, 

the, 127-129. 
Common (Groton), the, 62, 156, 157, 

172. 

, the Middle, 72. 

■ , the North, 71, 99. 

Concord, Mass., 26, 57, 94, 169. 

, N. H., 22, 34, 102. 

Connecticut Historical Society, its 

Collections, 21. 
Conne< ticut River, 51. 
"Continuation of the Narrative of the 

Indian Charity School," Wheelock's, 

in. 
Cooper, John, 92. 

■ , Timothy, 15, 18, 30, 92, 95. 

Corey, Aaron, 59, 60. 
"Cornwallis," a, 147, 148. 
Cortland, X. Y., 143. 
Crispe, Mrs. Benjamin, 103. 

Dana, Samuel, 157. 

, Rev. Samuel, sketch of, 55-57. 
Dana School (Groton), the, 57. 
Danforth, Jonathan, 17, 18. 

■ , Rev. Samuel, 72. 

Davis, Dolor, 18. 
, John, 42. 



Davis's Fordway, 42. 

Deerfield, Mass., 46. 

Denison, Major-General, 24. 

Dennie, Joseph, 59. 

Desertion of frontier towns, an act to 
prohibit, 38. 

Detroit, 126. 

Devens, Goodwife, 94. 

Dickinson, James, 156. 

, Mrs. Sarah, 156. 

, Thomas, 22. 

Dickson, Walter, 42. 

" Dictionnaire Genealogique des Fa- 
milies Canadiennes," 37. 

Division, N. Y., 143. 

Dix family, the, 62. 

"Documents relating to the Colonial 
History of the State of New York," 
34, 41, 101. 

Domesdav Book, 19, 20, 138, 164, 
165. 

Dorchester, Mass., 14, 169. 

Douglass, Dr. William, his "Summary, 
Historical and Political," 150. 

Dover, N. H., 100. 

Drew, Thomas, 38. 

Dudley, Gov. Joseph, 45, 123. 

Dunstable, Mass., 25, 34, 49, 50, 130, 

!33, l6 7- . 
Dunstable highway, the, 71. 
Dupont, Madeleine, 105. 
Durham, N. H., 41, 100, 101. 

Egeremet, 101. 

Eliot's church in Roxbury, 73. 

Emerson, Dearborn, 60. 

, Rev. Joseph, 131, 154. 

Everett, Edward, 52. 
Exeter, N. H., 39. 

Fairbanks, Lieut. Jabez, 49. 

Fairfield, William, 46. 

Farmer, Daniel, 50. 

Farmers' Row (Groton), 30, 45, 92, 
107, 147. 

Farnsworth, Ebenezer, 51. 

, Elizabeth, 157. 

, Rev. James D., 100. 

, Matthias, 44, 45. 

, name of, 18. 

Farrington, Matthew, 15, 18. 

Farwell, Deacon, 155. 

, Joseph, his note-book, 155, 156. 

Firelands Historical Society, the, 142. 

First Parish Meeting-house (Groton) 
the, 154-158, 172. See also Meeting- 
house in Groton. 

Fiske, James, 74, 89, 90, 135, 136. 

, Rev. John, 135. 



177 



Fitchburg, Mass., 61. 

Flint, George, 61. 

Foot Company, the, 35. 

Fort Dummer, 50, 51. 

Fovel, in. 

Franklin, Benjamin, 29. 

Franklin County, N. Y., no. 

Fremont, Ohio, 142. 

French and Indian War, the, 51. 

Frontenac, Count de, 37, 98. 

Fryeburg, Me., 50. 

Fuller, Rev. Arthur Buckminster, 158. 

Fuller, Margaret, 15S. 

"Galaxy," the, 48. 

Garrison-houses in Groton, 92. 

George, Horace, 60. 

Gilson, Joseph, 89. 

, name of, 18. 

, Mrs. Sarah (Capell), 157. 

Gonvil and Caius College, 73. 

Grant, Goodman, 79. 

Grantham (Groton), 32. 

Greaton, 19. 

Greene, William, 79. 

"Grey Hound" tavern, the (Roxbury), 
19. 

Groaten River, Nashua River so 
called, 21. 

Grotena of Domesday Book, the, 19. 

Groton, Conn., 19, 140, 143, 163. 

Groton, England, 19, 20, 137-139, 163- 
166, 170. 

Groton, Mass., 143, 153, 158, 159, 169; 
destroyed by Indians, 12, 22, 30-32, 
93-95; township granted, 13, 70, 
121-123, 126; petition for planta- 
tion, 15-18; first selection of, 18; 
origin of name, 19, 137, 163-166; 
various spellings of name, 20; brand- 
mark of, 21; complaint of improper 
management by proprietors, 21, 22; 
disturbed by Indians, 22-26, 41- 
51, 91-105, 107-113; in Philip's 
War, 25, 26, 29-33 > petition for 
relief from county charges, ^3' s0 ~ 
cial conditions in early days, 33- 
34; garrison at, 35-36, 48, 49, 95- 
98; second attack by Indians, 36- 
40, 95-102; Acadians in, 51; cor- 
respondence with Overseers of Bos- 
ton, 53-54; in the American Revo- 
lution, 54-58; connected with Shays's 
Rebellion, 59; stage lines of, 59- 
61; taverns in, 60; changes in, 
62; meaning of monuments in, 69; 
early meeting-houses and ministers, 
70-91; garrison-houses of, 92; town 
re-established after Indian attack, 



95; character of early settlers, 123- 
124, 133-136; deprived of territory, 
130-133; connected with Deane 
Winthrop, 137; pronunciation of 
name, 144; early customs and 
manners, 144-152; plants of, 150; 
advance of temperance, 150-151; 
First Parish Meeting-house, 154- 
158; distinguished citizens, 170; 
town seal of, 171. 

Groton, N. H., 19, 140. 

, N. Y., 19, 143. 

, Ohio, 141, 142. 

, S. D., 144. 

, Vt., 19, 140-141. 

Groton Artillery, the, 148. 

Groton Historical Society, the, 122. 

Groton Inn, the, 157. 

Groton Musical Association, the, 84. 

Groton Place, England, 139. 

Hall, Hon. Isaac Newton, 141. 

Hall brothers, the, 60. 

Hampton, N. H., 127. 

Hampton Falls, N. H., 128. 

Hanover, N. H., in. 

Hartwell, Dr. Edward Mussey, his 
letter on name of Groton, 163-166. 

Harvard, Mass., 105, 132, 133, 168. 

Harvard College, 15, 26, 29, 75. 

Haven, Richard, 15. 

Haverhill, Mass., 35. 

Hawkins, Dr. William, 25. 

Hayes, Rutherford B., President of 
the U. S., 142. 

Healy, Nathaniel, 43. 

Hector. See Miles, Hezekiah. 

Henchman, Thomas, 25. 

High School (Groton), the, 70, 92, 
156. 

Hill, Sally Morse, 141. 

Hinckly, Thomas, 18. 

"Historical Collections of Massachu- 
setts," Barber's, 172. 

"History of Massachusetts," Hutch- 
inson's, 47, 98, 109. 

"History of New England," Palfrey's, 

"3- 

"History of New France," Shea's 

edition, 36, 96. 
"History of St. Lawrence and Franklin 

Counties, N. Y.," Hough's, 109, 

no, in. 
"History of the Wars of New-England," 

Penhallow's, 41, 42, 43, 49. 
Hobart, Rev. Gershom, 36, 42, 50, 70, 

96, 98; his family, 98. 

, Gershom, Jr., 98, 99. 

Holden, John, 41. 



^3 



i/3 



Holden, John, Jr., 41. 

■ , Richard, 89. 

■ , Stephen, 41. 

Hollingsworth Paper-mills, the, 112, 
147. 

Hollis, N. H., 133, 168. 

Hollis road, the, 102. 

Holt, John, 61. 

Homer, Rev. Jonathan, 43. 

Homestead Acts, the, 18. 

Hough, Dr. Franklin B., his "History 
of St. Lawrence and Franklin Coun- 
ties, N. Y.," 109, no, in. 

Hubbard, John, 30, 94. 

, Rev. William, his account of 

Indian attack on Groton, 30, 94. 

Hutchinson, Gov. Thomas, his "His- 
tory of Massachusetts," 47, 98, 109. 

"Indian Roll," the, 7c. 

Indian words, list of, 167-168. 

Indians, 13, 69, 71, 107, no; destroy 
Groton, 12, 22, 30-32, 93-95; cause 
disturbances about Groton, 22-26, 

29-33, 34, 41-S 1 . Q 1 " 1 ^, 10 7-H3; 
make second attack on Groton, 36- 
40, 95-98. 

Jacobs, Charles, 147. 

James II, commissions from, 123. 

James's Brook, 92, 105, 147. 

Jenkins, Ann, 101. 

Johnson, Edward, 15; his "Wonder- 
Working Providence," 15, 73. 

, Mrs., 51. 

Journals of the Provincial Congress 
of Massachusetts, 57. 

Kcene, N. H., 157. 
Kennebec Indians, the, 97. 
Kerley, Lieut. Henry, 94. 
Kettle, Goodwife, 94. 
King George's War, 50. 
King William's War, 36, 95. 
Knapp, Elizabeth, 28. 

, James, 78, 79, 87, 88, 89. 

Knox manuscripts, the, 104. 

Lachine, Canada, 108, 109. 
Lakin, Isaac, 113. 

, John, 15, 35, 36, 90. 

Lakin," William, 15, 23, 78, 88, 89, 90, 

91, 96, 98, 102. 
Lamorandiere, Jacques Urbain Robert 

de, 108. 
Lancaster, Mass., 15, 2t, 24, 25, 32, 

34, M, 42, 01, 05, 105, 168, 169. 
Lancaster highway, the, 71. 



Lawrence, Amos, 155. 

, Enosh, 40, 112. 

, James, 107. 

, John, 74. 

, Joseph, 74. 

, name of, 18. 

, Nathaniel, 23, 78, 87, SS, 90. 

, Peleg, 89. 

Lawrence Academy, 105, 147, 163. 
Lawrence farm, the, 45. 
Le Ber, Jacques, 105. 
Ledyard, William, 19, 140. 
Leverett, Gov. John, 23. 
Littleton, Mass., 133, 163, 16S. 
Locke, N. Y., 143. 
Lodowick, Mr., 97. 
Loker, John, 105. 

, Mary (Draper), 105. 

London, 31, 138. 

Long Melford, England, 13S. 

Longley, Betty, 37, 103. 

, Deliverance (Crisp), 37, 102, 

104. 
■ , John, 37, 38, 74, 103, 104; his 

family, 98. 

, Lydia, 37, 44, 45, 10c, 103, 104. 

, William, 37, 38, 74, 86, 90, 91, 

100, 102, 103, 104, 112. 

, William, Sen., 103. 

Lorette, in. 

Louisburg, Cape Breton, 131. 
Lovewell, Capt. John, 50. 
Lovewell's fight, 113. 
Lowell, Mass., 61. 

Madocawando, 104. 

"Magnalia Christi Americana," 28, 

36, 39, 95, I0 °- 

Main Street (Groton), 60, 62. 

Maine, 37, 38, 101. 

March, Capt., 102. 

Marcoux, Rev. Francis, 112. 

Maricourt, de, 105. 

Marlboro, Mass., 25. 

Martin, William, 15, 18. 

Martin's Pond road, the, 99. 

Mason, N. H., 130. 

Massachusetts, charters of, 122-123, 
126, 127, 128, 129. 

Massachusetts-Bay Colony, list of first 
established towns in, 169. 

Massachusetts Historical Society, its 
Proceedings, 43, 58, 97; its Collec- 
tions, 28, 43, 53, 97- 

Mather, Rev. Cotton, 41; his "Mag- 
nalia," 28, ,■;(>, 39, 95, 100. 
— , Rev. Increase, g4; his "Brief 
1 listorv," 30. 

Mattapan, Mass., 14. 



179 



Meeting-house in Groton, the first, 
70-71, 77-91, 93; the second, 71- 
72, 84, 107. See also First Parish 
Meeting-house. 

Meriel, 108. 

Merrimack River, 15, 34, 50, 98, 102, 
126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 150, 168. 

Middlesex County, Mass., 13, 25, 57, 

59, 159- 
Miles, Hezekiah, 101. 
Miller, Rev. John, 26, 72; sketch of, 

73-74- 

, John, Jr., 74. 

, Lydia, 74. 

, Susannah, 74. 

Milwaukee, Wis., 126. 

Monaco, John, 95. 

Monadnock, N. H., 49. 

Montreal, 37, 47, 51, 103, 104, 108. 

Moore, Capt. Jacob, 35. 

Moors, Benjamin, 147. 

, name of, 18. 

Morse, Capt. Edmund, 140, 141. 

■ , John, 30, 79, 88, 89, 94, 95. 

, Sally (Wesson), 140. 

Moseley, Capt. Samuel, 24. 
Myrick, John, 43. 

Nashaway. See Lancaster, Mass. 

Nashua, N. H., 61, 130, 133, 153; 
meaning of word, 21. 

Nashua River, 21, 49, 112, 131, 133, 
167, 168. 

Nashville, Tenn., 142. 

Nassacombewit, 99. 

Nerigawag. See Norridgewock. 

"New and Further Narration of the 
State of New England," 32. 

New England, early ignorance con- 
cerning, 126, 127. 

New England Historic Genealogical 
Society, the, 100, 104, 121. 

"New England Historical and Gene- 
alogical Register," 46; quoted, 15, 
19. 

New Hampshire, 50, 60, 61, 127, 128, 
129, 130. 

New Ipswich, N. H., 130. 

New London, Conn., 49. 

New Orleans, battle of, 153. 

New York (state), no. 

Newbury, Mass., 73, 169. 

Newichewanick. See Berwick, Me. 

"News from New England," 32. 

Newton, Mass., 43; Homer's " History 
of," 43- 

Nicholson, Capt. Francis, 34. 

Nonacoicus, 35. 

Norfolk County, Mass., 25. 



Norridgewock, 99, 100, 102. 
Northfield, Mass., 150. 
Norwalk, Ohio, 142. 
Notre Dame (Montreal), the Con- 
gregation of, 37, 103, 104, 108. 
Nova Scotia, 51, 106. 
Noyes, Capt. Oliver, 45. 

, Thomas, 21. 

Nutting, John, 30, 74, 76, 87, 92, 93, 

95. r 35. i3 6 - 

, name of, 18. 

, "Widow," 93. 

Old South Church, Boston, 29. 
Oliver, Mary (Wilson), 106. 

, Hon. Thomas, 106. 

Oyster River. See Durham, N. H. 

Page, John, 22. 

Paige, John, 35, 87, 91. 

Paine, Robert Treat, 27. 

Palfrey, John G., his "History of New 

England," 123. 
Parish, Robert, 22. 
Parker, Jacob Lakin, 146. 
— — , James, 23, 24, 35, 74, 77, 78, 87, 

88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 135, 136. 
, James, jr., 40, 99, 100, 112; his 

family, 98. 

, Serg. James, 27. 

, John Warren, 158. 

, Joseph, 21, 89. 

, Josiah, 40, 99. 

, name of, 18, 50. 

, Obadiah, 155. 

, Phinehas, 40. 

Parkman, Francis, 96. 

Partridge, Samuel, 54. 

Pascaud, Etienne, 108. 

Patch, Zara, 157. 

Paugus, 50. 

Peabody Normal College, 142. 

Pemberton, Dr. Ebenezer, 29. 

Pemigewasset River, 128. 

Penacook. See Concord, N. H. 

Penhallow, Samuel, his "History of 

the Wars of New-England," 41, 42, 

43, 49- 
Penobscot, 104. 
Penobscot Indians, the, 97. 
Pepperell, Mass., 49, 106, 130, 131, 

132, 133, 148, 154, 167, 168. 
Pepperrell, Sir William, 131. 
Pequawket, 50, 113. 
Pescadoue. See Piscataqua. 
Petapawagc, former name of Groton, 

17, 164, 168. 
Petaupauket, 15, 168. 
Philip's War, 25, 26, 29-33, 7°» 9 2 , 93- 



i8o 



Pigwacket. See Pequawket. 

Pike, Rev. John, his Journal, 42, 

44, 97- 
Pisi ataqua, 36, 96. 

irn, Maj. John, 58. 
Pleasanl Street (Groton), 60. 
Plymouth Colony, 74; list of first 

established towns in, 169. 
Pontchartrain, Minister, 96. 
Pi >pe, the, 1 n. 
Pound (Groton), the, 71. 
Powder House Road, 147. 
Pratt, John, 35. 
Prescott, Abigail (Oliver), 105, 106. 

, Benjamin, 104, 105, 106. 

, John, 105. 

, Jonas, 35, 105, 106. 

— , Mary (Platts), 105. 

, name of, 18, 50. 

, ( >liver, 53, 57. 

, William, 106. 

, Col. William, 54, 55, 105, 106. 

, Mrs. William, 1 

, William Hickling, 106. 

Prim e Collei tion, the, 94. 
"Province Gaily," the, 38, 100. 

Quaboag ( Rr< >ok ield |, 24. 
Qui bee, 38, 45. 

Queen Anne's War, 47, 48, 109. 

Rawson, Edward, 18, 25, 121, 122. 

Read, John, 46. 

Re ords of Massachusetts, quoted, 23. 

Remington, Jonathan, 35. 

Revere and Son, 158. 

Revolution, the American, Groton in, 

.54-58- 
Richardson, Jephthah, 60. 
Ridgway, James, 157. 
Ripley, Rev. Silvanus, in. 
Rochester, N. Y., 126. 
R01 1 wood, Mrs. Sarah Chaplin, 143. 
Rogers, Rev. Ezekiel, 73. 

, William, 47. 

Rome, in. 
Ross, Charley, 38. 

, Christian EC., 38. 

Rouse, Alexander, 58, 100; his family, 
98. 

, "Tamisin," 38, too. 

Rowley, Mass., 73, C69. 
Roxbury, Mass., 19, 72, 73, 76, 123, 
145, 160. 

Si. Edmund, 20. 

St. Francis Indians, 51. 

Law rence River, 100, no. 
Si. Madeleine, Sister. See Longley, 
Lydia. 



St. Regis, 47, 109, no, in, 112. 
St. Regis Indians, the, no. 
Salem, Mass., 46, 54, 169. 
Salisbury, Mass., 128, 169. 
Saltonstall, Gurdon, Governor of 

Conn., 49. 
Sandusky, Ohio, 143. 
Sawtell, Joseph, 146. 

, name of, 18. 

, Richard, 74. 

Seager, Ebenezer, 43. 

, Henry, Jr., 43. 

Sewall, Judge Samuel, his Diary, 97, 

99, J 45- 

Shattuck, Elizabeth, 113. 

, John, 4S, 112. 

, Mrs. John, 113. 

, John, Jr., 48, 112. 

, name of, 18. 

, Ruth, 113. 

Shays's Rebellion, 59. 

Shea's edition of ''History of New 
France," 36, 96. 

Shepley, Hon. Ether, 48, 99. 

, Gen. George F., 48, 99. 

, John, 48; his family, 98. 

, John, Jr., 48, 99, 100, 102. 

, name of, 50. 

, Samuel, 15. 

Shepley family, the, 99. 

Sherman, Abigail. See Willard, Mrs. 
Samuel. 

, Rev. John, 27, 76. 

Shirley, Mass., 132, 132, 167, 168. 

, Gov. William, 132. 

Shrimpton, Col. Samuel, 97. 

Smith, John, 74. 

, Thomas, S9. 

Squannacook, 112, 146, 168. 

Stage-coach lines of Groton, 59-61. 

Stamp Art, the, 52. 

State Archives, 121; quoted, 21, 24, 
25; cited, 22, 30, 35, 38, 40, 41, 42, 
43, 44, 48, 40, 58, 94, 97, 100, 101, 102. 

Stoddard, Capt. John, 45; his "Jour- 
nal," 46. 

Stone, Benjamin, 155. 

, Deacon, 155. 

, name of, 18. 

, Simon, 39, 40. 

Stony Fordway, the, T12. 

Stoughton, Gov. William, 41, 101. 
Mass., 57. 

Sudbury, England, 1 38. 

, Mass., 31, |2, 105, 1 

"Summary, Historical and Political," 
I >■ luglass's, 150. 

S van, II. 1'., 139. 

Syracuse, 126. 



i8i 



Tanguay, 1'Abbe Cyprien, his "Dic- 
tionnaire Genealogique," 37. 

Tarbell, Battice, no. 
, Eleazer, in. 

, Elizabeth (Wood), 107, 108. 

, John, 44, 45, 107, 108, 109, no, 

in, 113. 

, Lesor, no, in. 

, Loran, no. 

, Louis, no. 

, Mitchell, no. 

, name of, 18, 47. 

, Peter, no. 

, Capt. Samuel, 155. 

, Sarah, 44, 45, 107, 108, 113. 

, Thomas, 45, 50, 89. 

, Thomas (Indian), no. 

, Thomas, Jr., 22, 45, 46, 47, 74, 

88, 107, 108, iio, 168/ 

, Zechariah, 44, 45, 107, 108, 109, 

no, in, 113. 

Taverns in Groton, 60. 

Taxous, 36, 96, 97, 98. 

Taylor, Col. William, 44. 

, Lieut. Joseph, in. 

Telegraph, the, influence of, 153. 

Telegraph and Despatch Line, the, 61. 

Telephone, 153. 

Temperance, advance of, 150-151. 

Temple, N. H., 55. 

Thacher, Rev. Thomas, 29. 

Thames River, Conn., 140. 

Tinker, John, 18. 

Tiverton, R. I., 46. 

Tohaunto, Indian chief, 22. 

Torakaron, Joseph, in. 

Torrey, William, 18, 121. 

Town incorporation, 14, 120, 121. 

Towns, Massachusetts, list of first 
established, 169. 

Townsend, Mass., 130, 131. 

Trimountaine, 14. 

Trowbridge, Rev. Caleb, 156. 

"True Account of the most Consider- 
able Occurrences," etc., 31. 

Tyng, Edward, 27. 

, Eunice, 27. 

Union and Accommodation Line, the, 

60. 
"Useful Instructions," Willard's, 27, 

81-83. 
Usher, Hezekiah, 35. 

Vermont, 60, 61. 
Villieu, 97. 1 
Virginia, 73. 



Wade, Mai. Nathaniel, 35. 

Waldron, Richard, 22. 

Waltham, Mass., 15. 

Ward, Gen. Artemas, 107. 

Warumbee, 101. 

Watertown, Mass., 14, 27, 76, 132, 

169. 
Waubansconcett, 15. 
Webster, Rev. Samuel, 55. 
Wells, Thomas, 46. 
Wells River, Vt., 141. 
Wenham, Mass., 46. 
West Groton. See Squannacook. 
Westford, Mass., 122, 133, 167, 168. 
Weston Hall, England, 92. 
Wheatsbo rough. See Groton, Ohio. 
Wheelock, Eleazer, his "Continuation 
of the Narrative of the Indian Char- 
ity School," in. 
Wheelock's, I. & S., 60. 
White, Corporal, 35. 
Whitney, Joshua, 79. 

Wilder, Lieut., 41. 

Willard, Col. Josiah, 51. 

, Miriam, 51. 

, Moses, 51. 

, Rev. Samuel, 31, 51, 70, 92; 

sketch of life, 26-29; h' s pastorate 
in Groton, 74-91; his "Useful In- 
structions," 27, 81-83. 

, Mrs. Samuel, 27, 76, 80. 

, Sarah, 97. 

, Major Simon, 24, 25, 26, 32, 90. 

William and Mary, charters of, 123, 
128. 

Williams, John, 45. 

Winnepesauke River, 128. 

Winthrop, Mass., 137. 

, Deane, 17, 19, 137, 164. 

, Gov. Fitz-John, 137, 140. 

, Gov. John, 19, 137, 139, 164/ 

, Robert C, 139; letter from, 137. 

Witchcraft in Groton, 28. 

Witt, John, 15, 18. 

Woburn, Mass., 73. 

"Wonder- Working Providence," John- 
son's, 15, 73. 

Woods, Eber, 92. 

, Lieut. Isaac, 155. 

, Lieut. John, 155. 

, Samuel, 74, 78. 

Woolley, Charles, 15, 121. 

Worcester, Mass., 61. 

Wright, Elizur, 151. 

Yarmouth, Mass., 72, 74, 169. 



HK195-7 



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